UK and Portugal
What moves each way, the scams to watch for, and what to check before you trade.
Trade safely with Portugal
The scams, documents and rules that matter on this corridor. Written and reviewed by our team, and dated.
Corridor-specific scam patterns and rules are still being reviewed by our team and will appear here once published.
- Confirm the company exists in an official register and that its name matches the one on the invoice.
- Before paying into a new or changed bank account, phone the company on a number you already hold, not one from the invoice or email.
- Test the container number, ship number, ports and dates on the bill of lading with the Document checker.
- Be wary of paying in advance for goods you have not seen, or of fees demanded to release a shipment.
- Ask the carrier directly to confirm the shipment exists and where it is.
In 2025, the UK sold Portugal about $2.0 billion of goods. The biggest products were turbo-jets, turbo-propellers, motor cars and other motor vehicles and ferrous waste and scrap, which together make up 46% of the total. The total has grown by about 8.0% a year since 2022. Among the leading products, turbo-jets, turbo-propellers is growing fastest, at about 67% a year.
In 2025, the UK bought about $4.7 billion of goods from Portugal. The biggest products were motor cars and other motor vehicles, footwear, with outer soles of rubber and uncoated paper and paperboard, used for writing, which together make up 25% of the total. The total has been roughly flat since 2022. Among the leading products, boards, panels, consoles, desks, cabinets is growing fastest, at about 32% a year.
Trade by year
Total trade each year, as reported in the tables below. A missing bar means no report for that year, not zero trade.
View as a table
| Year | UK sells to Portugal | UK buys from Portugal |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $1.6bn | $4.8bn |
| 2023 | $1.6bn | $4.7bn |
| 2024 | $1.5bn | $4.6bn |
| 2025 | $2bn | $4.7bn |
What UK sells to Portugal
Ranked by value in 2025, by 4-digit product code. Growth is the yearly rate since 2022.
| Product | Value | Share | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turbo-jets, turbo-propellers and other gas turbines Product code 8411 · Machinery | $516.8m | 26.2% | +67.5% a year |
| Motor cars and other motor vehicles (principally designed for the transport of persons (other than those of he… Product code 8703 · Vehicles | $307.1m | 15.6% | +22.2% a year |
| Ferrous waste and scrap (remelting scrap ingots of iron or steel) Product code 7204 · Iron and steel | $86.3m | 4.4% | +18.3% a year |
Biggest product groups: Machinery (35%), Vehicles (19%), Iron and steel (7%), Electrical equipment (4%), Plastics (3%) .
What UK buys from Portugal
Ranked by value in 2025, by 4-digit product code. Growth is the yearly rate since 2022.
| Product | Value | Share | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Motor cars and other motor vehicles (principally designed for the transport of persons (other than those of he… Product code 8703 · Vehicles | $898.0m | 19.2% | +14.4% a year |
| Footwear (with outer soles of rubber, plastics, leather or composition leather and uppers of leather) Product code 6403 · Footwear | $141.5m | 3.0% | 0.0% a year |
| Uncoated paper and paperboard, used for writing, printing or other graphics, non perforated punch-cards and pu… Product code 4802 · Paper and board | $124.4m | 2.7% | -8.5% a year |
Biggest product groups: Vehicles (23%), Machinery (7%), Electrical equipment (6%), Knitted clothing (5%), Paper and board (4%) .
Where the opportunities are
Products that are moving on this corridor. Only products of a meaningful size are listed. Treat these as leads to check, not promises: a fast rise can reverse.
Room to grow
Products that a market buys a lot of, where this corridor supplies only a small part. Shares are for the latest year both sides reported. A small share can also mean a hard market, so check the rules and the buyer first.
A free account shows the complete product lists, every fast-growing and new product, and the markets where this corridor supplies little. Accounts are checked by hand, so use your business email.
Create a free account Sign inHow to read these figures
Value is what was traded in the year, in US dollars. A big number means a big market, not necessarily an easy one to enter.
Share is that product's part of the total in the table above. A product with a large share is what this corridor already trades most of.
Growth is the average yearly change since the first year shown. A green figure means trade in that product is rising.
Product code is the international customs code (HS) for the product group. Your customs agent and the guide below will ask for it, and it decides the duty you pay.
These are totals reported by customs authorities, not prices or orders. Use them to see where demand exists, then check the rules and the company you plan to deal with.
Next steps
Some figures come from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) overseas trade statistics, with pounds converted to US dollars at the Bank of England's monthly average rate. The rest are what each country reported to the UN (Comtrade), in US dollars. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Imports are usually reported including freight and insurance, exports without, so the two sides of a corridor will not match exactly. Company counts are companies listed on ExporterIQ.