24%
Of total national exports of goods
Source: Statistics Portugal (2021).
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Advanced Manufacturing industry
The Advanced Manufacturing sector is Portugal’s leading export segment. Year after year, its exports are reaching all-time record highs.
Advanced Manufacturing industry at a glance
The Advanced Manufacturing – that includes the Metal, Mechanical and Electronics segments - is a cornerstone of the manufacturing sector.
The sector is the largest exporting industry of the Portuguese economy. In 2022, exports reached a record level of €19B to over 200 markets.
Metal Processing Industry
The Metal Processing Industry subsector is actively engaged in innovation, supplying the most sophisticated markets in Europe and the USA.
€7B
(12%)Product exports | 2022
Share of total manufacturing industry. Source: Eurostat
€3,7B
(64%)Gross value added | 2021
Share in Advanced Manufacturing Industry. Source: Statistics Portugal
29,3
%Exports to Spain
Source: Eurostat (2022); weight in total Metal and Mechanical Engineering exports.
19,2
%Exports to France
Source: Eurostat (2022); weight in total Metal and Mechanical Engineering exports.
Electric, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering
Portugal has reinforced its digital maturity, supported by significant R&D capabilities and tech skills, leveraging its competitive positioning in the presenting subsector.
Recent FDI projects in Portugal
1 /
Fischer Connectors (Switzerland)
In 2022, the Swiss Group Conextivity (formerly Fischer Connectors) announced the construction of a new production site in Amarante , Porto, for the assembly of connectors and cable solutions. This translates into an investment of €14M, in a factory that may "employ up to 400 people", in ten years time, according to the Group. The new plant aims to "increase the Group's production capacity, optimizing costs" by managing two production sites, in Switzerland and Portugal.
WEG (Brazil)
In 2022, the Brazilian manufacturing group WEG announced the construction of a new factory in Santo Tirso, to expand the production of large Electric Motors and MV/HV drives, in a €23M investment. The facility will boast the most advanced test laboratory in Europe, suitable for full load testing of WEG’s new product portfolio empowering customers to remotely monitor tests in real time.
Bosch Termotecnologia (Germany)
Bosch will install a new production line to manufacture heat pumps at its thermotechnology facility in Aveiro, creating 300 jobs until 2024, in addition to the current employment of circa 1000 FTE. The company plans to open the new manufacturing line in two phases, investing a total of €12M. The line will allow Bosch to manufacture external units for both air and ground source heat pumps, in addition to the internal units it already produces. Bosch expects to initially produce 150,000 units per year, rising to 400,000 per year in the medium term.
Coficab (Tunisia)
Announced in 2018, the Coficab Group, a Tunisian multinational established in Portugal since 1993, will invest €30M in the construction of a new industrial unit in Guarda , which will create around 300 jobs. This new project will operate at the Guarda Logistics Platform and will be dedicated to the development of automotive cables with 4.0 technology.
