Portugal’s exports of goods rose 6% in the first quarter from a year earlier despite a lockdown over a surge in COVID-19 infections, reversing a 3% drop in the preceding three months, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Wednesday. INE’s new flash estimate, which only includes quarterly percentage changes for exports and imports, but not their value nor the overall trade balance, comes ahead of the regular wider monthly trade data release, scheduled for May 10. INE’s data showed imports fell 5.7% in January-March in an improvement from a steeper drop of almost 10% in October-December.
Its previous release on April 9 showed the country’s global trade deficit in February more than halved to 708 million euros from nearly 1.55 billion euros a year earlier, as total exports of goods rose 2.3% and imports fell nearly 11%, influenced by Britain’s exit from the European Union. Imports from Britain more than halved and exports dropped 15%，in sharp contrast with intra-EU trade data.