Portugal 2016

ACTIVIDADE ECONÓMICA COMÉRCIO INTERNACIONAL ECONOMIC ACTIVITY INTERNATIONAL TRADE 77 In 2016 the import-export coverage rate declined by 0.6 p.p. from the previous year, to 81.7%. However, the 2016 value was relatively high and had been reached in 2013 after three consecutive years of increase, allowing this rate to go up from 61.7% in 2009 to 83.0% that year. In 2016 nominal exports decelerated by around 2.5 p.p., growing moderately by 0.8% (nevertheless a significant increase in volume). The value of imports also decelerated, but only by -0.7 p.p., growing by around 1.5%. These different paces resulted in a deficit of around € 11.2 billion (slightly below that recorded in 2012) and corresponded to little over half of the average value seen in the 2005-10 period (which included the maximum deficit in the 1994-2016 period, recorded in 2008). From 2005 onwards the dynamics of exports showed two opposite movements. On the one hand, there was a slow decline in the degree of concentration of destination markets, assessed by the weight of the four main export markets. This indicator stood at 62.0% in 2005 and declined to 47.0% in 2012 (this year saw a minimum that had not been recorded since 1993, associated with a strong reduction, contrary to a slowdown until then). However, from then onwards there was a gradual increase in the weight of the four main markets in total exports. On the other hand, and also since 2005, the weight of exports of high-tech goods declined, from 7.4% to a minimum of 3.1% in 2010-11. From 2012 onwards there was a clear reversal of this trend, and the relative importance of this type of product started to slowly recover.