Portugal’s demand for imported goods generated a subtotal US$35.2 billion worth of Portuguese spending on the 100 most valuable consumer products imported into Portugal during 2020.

That consumer-driven dollar amount represents 45.3% of the overall value of all goods imported into Portugal. Overall spending on all Portuguese imports, including raw materials, intermediate products and semi-finished goods, totaled $77.9 billion in 2020.

Portugal’s most valuable imported consumer products in 2020 are cars, automotive parts or accessories, medications, petroleum gas, and phone devices including smartphones.

Occupying most of western part of the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe, the Portuguese Republic shares land borders with Spain to its north and east. Portugal is primarily a coastal nation with western and southern perimeters along the Atlantic Ocean.

Portugal is a member of the European Union, United Nations and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The population count for Portugal is about 10.3 million residents.

Linguistically, Portuguese is the official language albeit about one quarter of Portugal’s population speak English.

The Southwestern European nation ranks as the world’s 52nd richest economy in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on a Purchasing Power Parity basis, generating US$376,1 billion worth of economic activity as of October 2021.

Spending on all of Portugal’s imported goods dropped by -13% from 2019 to 2020. Portugal’s purchases focused on its top 100 consumer imports posted a lesser -11.4% decrease over the latest annual period.

The deceleration in Portuguese spending for key imported consumer products was more severe than the global average from 2019 to 2020, which was an average drop of -8.2% for all importing countries around the world.

Among the top 100 consumer products imported by Portugal, 36 increased in total value from 2019 to 2020 whereas 64 declined.

Changes in Portuguese consumer demand for essential imports offer future opportunities for international suppliers who correctly anticipate which upward or downward trends will continue.

Consumer Products Defined

Economics educator BoyceWire defines a consumer product as a final good or end product that a business creates for consumers to buy. For example, consumers often purchase refined petroleum oil at the gas station while imported crude oil is an intermediate good subject to further processing before being sold to end users.

Although there may be a few wealthy individual buyers, products like turbojets are excluded from the consumer products targeted by this study. That is because turbojets are usually purchased by corporations. In contrast, it is common for a consumer to buy a motorcycle.

Types of Consumer Products

This article focuses on 3 distinct consumer product types.

Convenience Products are easy to access, non-durable, have relatively lower prices and therefore consumers frequently purchase them. Examples of convenience products are food, alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks, and soap.

Shopping Products are not as easily available, involve more time to make a buying decision, are durable and are not bought as often as most convenience products. A great example of a shopping product is a mobile phone where buying the wrong model is a much more expensive mistake than buying a disappointing loaf of bread.

Speciality Products describe another consumer product type. This grey area includes infrequently purchased, expensive, durable and sometimes rare items. Consumers may consider the product’s brand image when making their purchase decisions. Some examples of speciality products are gold, silver, diamonds, jewelry, and branded refrigerators and dishwashers.

Portugal’s Most Valuable Imported Convenience Products

The list below showcases the most valuable imported convenience products on which buyers in Portugal spent the most. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented in descending order.

You can also peruse the greatest increases or decreases in product values from 2019 to 2020 by focusing on the percentages displayed to the right of each product name.

Medications: US$2,411,163,000 (up 10.3%)
Petroleum gas: $1,453,415,000 (down -21.3%)
Processed petroleum oils: $1,012,752,000 (down -51%)
Soya beans: $532,015,000 (up 24.8%)
Miscellaneous plastic items: $515,592,000 (down -4%)
Fresh or chilled beef: $487,112,000 (down -11.1%)
Whole fish (frozen): $438,618,000 (down -16.3%)
Dried or salted fish: $423,320,000 (down -10.8%)
Bread, biscuits, cakes, pastries: $420,303,000 (down -2%)
Whole fish (fresh): $382,087,000 (up 0.6%)
Corn: $378,830,000 (down -8.5%)
Olive oil: $341,327,000 (up 4.8%)
Other organic cleaning preparations: $335,932,000 (up 7.5%)
Plastic packing goods, lids, caps: $308,710,000 (up 2.9%)
Swine meat: $295,082,000 (down -7.5%)
Moluscs: $264,324,000 (down -20.8%)
Coffee: $261,124,000 (down -0.5%)
Chocolate, other cocoa preparations: $245,531,000 (up 0.3%)
Miscellaneous food preparations: $243,920,000 (down -3.2%)
Crustaceans (including lobsters): $239,759,000 (down -13.6%)
Cheese, curd: $238,509,000 (down -5.1%)
Fish, caviar (preserved/prepared): $217,797,000 (up 19.3%)
Fresh or dried citrus fruit: $217,215,000 (up 55.5%)
Wine: $190,014,000 (up 0.3%)
Buttermilk, yogurt: $187,818,000 (up 0.2%)
Sanitary towels, baby napkins/liners: $166,333,000 (up 0.9%)
Sugar (cane or beet): $163,924,000 (up 5.8%)
Bananas, plantains: $163,266,000 (up 20.4%)
Poultry meat: $159,943,000 (down -17.7%)
Dates/pineapples/mango/avocado: $144,677,000 (down -0.8%)
Fish fillets, pieces: $137,362,000 (down -14.9%)
Waters with added sugar: $133,365,000 (down -6.5%)
Other meats (preserved/prepared): $129,012,000 (up 8.9%)
Cigars/cigarellos, cigarettes: $127,439,000 (down -6.2%)
Antibiotics: $127,376,000 (up 30.1%)
Ink: $121,638,000 (up 4%)
Rice: $112,083,000 (up 17.9%)
Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs): $105,919,000 (down -30%)
Fruit and vegetable juices: $104,344,000 (down -10.6%)
Miscellaneous live plants: $103,507,000 (up 5%)
Medication mixes not in dosage: $101,385,000 (down -3.9%)
Pasta, couscous: $101,277,000 (up 5.6%)

Convenience products led by the products listed above represent the European country’s most popular import product type attracting Portugal’s international spending ahead of both shopping products and speciality goods.

Non-durable consumer products are goods that are not re-used once consumed. Alcoholic beverages and bananas are examples of non-durable goods. Convenience products are uniquely non-durable consumer products.

Portugal’s Most Valuable Imported Shopping Products

Below, the list highlights the most valuable imported shopping products on which buyers in Portugal spent the greatest amounts. Items were selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level and are presented from highest to lowest total amounts.

The percentages displayed to the right of each product name reveal the highest increases or decreases in Portuguese spending on that specific type of shopping product from 2019 to 2020.

Cars: US$3,860,813,000 (down -28.8%)
Automobile parts/accessories: $2,849,700,000 (down -18.3%)
Phones: $1,194,327,000 (up 5.4%)
Computers, optical readers: $905,971,000 (up 6.5%)
Trucks: $542,946,000 (down -18.3%)
Seats (not barber/dentist chairs): $517,517,000 (down -14.1%)
Hot-rolled iron/non-alloy steel items: $474,946,000 (down -12.9%)
Rubber tires (new): $463,049,000 (down -12.2%)
Insulated wire/cable: $429,126,000 (down -9.5%)
Miscellaneous furniture: $392,380,000 (down -1.8%)
Lower-voltage switches, fuses: $389,369,000 (down -1.4%)
Miscellaneous textile items: $385,880,000 (up 620%)
Tractors: $356,914,000 (down -23.8%)
Women’s clothing (not knit/crochet): $286,843,000 (down -26.7%)
Motorcycle parts/accessories: $270,580,000 (up 1%)
Orthopedic appliances: $268,844,000 (down -7.2%)
Electrical converters/power units: $265,405,000 (up 11.7%)
Jerseys, pullovers (knit or crochet): $257,102,000 (down -21.4%)
Cases, handbags, wallets: $242,076,000 (down -32.8%)
Miscellaneous iron or steel items: $225,167,000 (down -12.3%)
Packaged insecticides, herbicides: $223,289,000 (up 30.4%)
Printing machinery: $220,760,000 (down -8.3%)
Footwear (textile): $220,444,000 (down -13.5%)
Footwear (leather): $209,758,000 (down -24.1%)
Miscellaneous toys: $204,087,000 (down -12%)
T-shirts, vests (knit or crochet): $198,557,000 (down -29.1%)
Men’s suits (unknit/non-crochet): $194,408,000 (down -29.4%)
Screws, bolts, washers, hooks, pins: $179,196,000 (down -9.5%)
Paints, varnishes: $173,037,000 (down -1.4%)
Insoles, heel cushions: $166,631,000 (down -14.4%)
Motorcycles: $161,864,000 (down -0.8%)
Paper containers, cellulose wadding: $155,780,000 (down -7%)
Glass bottles, other containers: $148,189,000 (up 6.1%)
Unrecorded sound media: $139,160,000 (down -7.5%)
Footwear (rubber or plastic): $130,837,000 (down -31.1%)
Trailers: $126,772,000 (down -11.6%)
Computer parts, accessories: $125,843,000 (up 11.1%)
Sports equipment: $122,704,000 (up 20.1%)
Microphones/headphones/amps: $120,127,000 (up 6.8%)
Vulcanized rubber items: $117,859,000 (down -9.1%)
Women’s clothing (knit or crochet): $117,308,000 (down -20.3%)
Locks, lock-keys: $115,451,000 (down -17.9%)
Shaving preparations, deodorants: $114,799,000 (down -3.9%)
Soap, organic surface-active goods: $104,059,000 (up 0.7%)
Hair preparations: $103,090,000 (down -1.9%)
Wrist/pocket watches (regular case): $100,448,000 (down -33.2%)

Focusing on the scope of this analysis, shopping products is Portugal’s second-most popular category behind convenience products but ahead of speciality items.

Shopping products approached half (46) of the overall top 100 Portuguese imported consumer goods.

Durable consumer products are goods like cars, refrigerators and furniture that last a relatively long time. Consumers can put durable products to use again and again. Note that shopping products and speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Portugal’s Most Valuable Imported Speciality Products

Speciality products represent the category with the fewest entries among Portugal’s imports that attracted the country’s spending on imported consumer goods during 2020.

Selected at the four-digit Harmonized System tariff classification code level, the most valuable speciality items are listed in descending order below.

The percentage to the right of each product name reveal highest increases or decreases in 2020 compared to 2019.

Electric water heaters, hair dryers: US$310,201,000 (up 3.4%)
Refrigerators, freezers: $278,089,000 (down -7.4%)
Air conditioners: $268,591,000 (down -6.3%)
Household base metal mountings: $232,136,000 (up 1%)
Beauty/makeup/skin care: $226,684,000 (down -20.3%)
Electric motors, not generating sets: $195,005,000 (down -1.3%)
Dishwash, clean/dry/fill machines: $191,224,000 (up 6.2%)
Liquid pumps: $175,590,000 (down -3.2%)
Electric storage batteries: $172,323,000 (up 17.2%)
Temperature-change machines: $150,261,000 (down -4.5%)
Special hand/machine tools: $117,378,000 (down -10.1%)
Washing machines: $109,103,000 (up 9.6%)

Like shopping products, speciality products are considered as durable consumer products.

Based on the product types identified in the sections above, 58 of Portugal’s 100 highest-value consumer shopper plus speciality products are durable while the remaining 42 convenience products are classified as non-durable.

Portugal’s Overall Fastest-Growing Consumer Imports

Listed below are the top 10 consumer products imported into Portugal that experienced the highest percentage increases in spending from 2019 to 2020.

Miscellaneous textile items: Up 620% (US$385.9 million)
Fresh or dried citrus fruit: Up 55.5% ($217.2 million)
Packaged insecticides, herbicides: Up 30.4% ($223.3 million)
Antibiotics: Up 30.1% ($127.4 million)
Soya beans: Up 24.8% ($532 million)
Bananas, plantains: Up 20.4% ($163.3 million)
Sports equipment: Up 20.1% ($122.7 million)
Fish, caviar (preserved/prepared): Up 19.3% ($217.8 million)
Miscellaneous fresh fruits: Up 16.7% ($737.2 million)
Computers including optical readers: Up 14.6% ($4.4 billion)

Three among the above top 10 gainers are shopping products and therefore also durable goods that consumers can re-use over time. This trio of fastest-growing shopping products in demand by importers in Portugal are miscellaneous items made from textile, packaged insecticides or herbicides, and sports equipment.

The lone speciality product in the top 10 fastest growers list above is electric storage batteries.

The 6 fastest growers among the non-durable, one-time usage imported consumer products. These are fresh or dried citrus fruit, antibiotics, soya beans, bananas including plantains, preserved or prepared fish including caviar, and rice.

Portugal’s Overall Worst-Declining Consumer Imports

Spending by import buyers in Portugal on the following 10 items decreased in value by the highest percentages from 2019 to 2020.

Processed petroleum oils: Down -51% ($1 billion)
Wrist/pocket watches with regular case: Down -33.2% ($100.4 million)
Cases, handbags, wallets: Down -32.8% ($242.1 million)
Rubber or plastic footwear: Down -31.1% ($130.8 million)
Alcohol (including spirits, liqueurs): Down -30% ($105.9 million)
Men’s suits (unknit/non-crochet): Down -29.4% ($194.4 million)
T-shirts, vests (knitted or crocheted): Down -29.1% (198.6 million)
Cars: Down -28.8% ($3.9 billion)
Women’s clothing (unknit/non-crochet): Down -26.7% ($286.8 million)
Leather footwear: Down -24.1% ($209.8 million)

Eight categories among Portuguese top 10 severest decliners are durable shopping products used over a period of time. The worst slippage among those categories was for Portugal’s imports of wrist or pocket watches with regular cases, wallets and cases including handbags, rubber or plastic footwear, and unknitted and non-crocheted men’s suits.

There was a pair of non-durable consumer products among Portugal’s leading 10 major import decliners from 2019 to 2020, namely processed petroleum oils and alcoholic beverages.

Key Suppliers by Country

This analysis reveals competitive suppliers that target demand for 5 of Portugal’s top consumer import products.

Portugal’s biggest imported consumer product by value is cars. The other 4 leading consumer goods imported into Portugal are automobile parts or accessories, medications, petroleum gas, and phone devices including smartphones.

Below, you will find major supplying countries for Portugal’s imported:

Cars: Spain (27.4% of total), Germany (26.2%), France (16.7%), Belgium (9%), Hungary (2.8%), Slovakia (2.3%), United Kingdom (2.2%), South Korea (2%), Italy (1.8%), and Turkey (1.4%).

Automobile parts or accessories: Spain (40.4% of total), Germany (25%), France (9.8%), Italy (3.8%), United Kingdom (2.6%), Czech Republic (2.5%), Poland (2.5%), Japan (2.2%), Belgium (2.1%), and Slovakia (1.4%).

Medications: Germany (21.2% of total), Spain (14.1%), Netherlands (12.3%), France (8.7%), Italy (7.6%), Belgium (6.9%), Ireland (5.7%), Switzerland (5%), United Kingdom (also 5%), and Sweden (4.1%).

Petroleum gas: Nigeria (46% of total), United States (23.3%), Spain (10.6%), Russia (6.7%), Qatar (4.8%), Algeria (3.5%), Norway (1.8%), United Kingdom (1.5%), Equatorial Guinea (0.7%), and Netherlands (0.4%).

Phone devices including smartphones: Spain (32.6% of total), Netherlands (13.9%), Vietnam (13.3%), France (7.8%), China (6.2%), United Kingdom (4.2%), Ireland (4.1%), Italy (3.7%), Germany (3.2%), and Hong Kong (3%).

References

Independent insights and analysis presented in this article are based on researched facts and statistics sourced from the following educational portals.

BoyceWire, Consumer Goods Definition.

Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook: Portugal Economy.

International Trade Centre, Trade Map.

Investopedia, Consumer Goods, Consumer Staples Definition, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG).

Richest Country Reports, Top 100 Richest Countries by GDP.

Trading Economics, Portugal Consumer Spending.

Wikipedia, List of largest consumer markets.

Wikipedia, Portugal, Geography of Portugal, Languages of Portugal.

World’s Top Exports, Portugal’s Top 10 Imports.