Portugal doubled its health exports in the last decade

According to the Health Cluster Portugal, given the quality of the Portuguese health value chain, as well as the stability, dynamism and resilience in this sector, exports in health grew by 150% in the last decade in Portugal.

The Health Cluster Portugal, citing data from the Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal (AICEP) and having as a source the National Statistics Institute (INE), concluded that exports in health grew, in 2020, by 11.11%, in counter-cycle with the Portuguese trade balance that decreased by 10%, compared to 2019.

According to the same entity, “the growth values of health are strongly based on basic pharmaceutical products that increased more than 25% and in pharmaceutical preparations, which grew 11.02%,” referring also that “if in 2019 exports in health exceeded 1,500 million euros, in 2020 they reached 1,749 million,” values that “mirror a sector in permanent growth, even during the pandemic.”

Data from Health Cluster Portugal states that health “represents an annual turnover of around €30 billion and a gross value added of around €9.0 billion, involving nearly 90,000 companies and employing almost 300,000 people”.

These data show the sustained growth of the sector and that health is gaining centrality in Portugal, having registered a remarkable evolution over the last two decades.