Data from the Chinese Customs Services, released on Tuesday, indicates that between January and April, Portuguese-speaking countries exported goods worth $34.3 billion (€29.8 billion) to China.
These figures, compiled by the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macau Forum), represent the lowest value for the first four months of a year since 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The decline was primarily led by Brazil, the largest Portuguese-speaking supplier to China, whose exports fell by 29.8% to $27.1 billion (€23.6 billion).
Additionally, Angola, China’s second-largest trading partner within the Portuguese-speaking bloc, saw its exports decrease by 6.1% to $5.49 billion (€4.78 billion).
Portugal’s exports to China also dropped by 12.5% to $883.2 million (€768.2 million).
Seven out of nine Portuguese-speaking countries experienced a decline in their exports to China.
The exceptions were Mozambique, whose sales increased by more than a quarter (26.3%) to $604.7 million (€526 million), and Guinea-Bissau, which, as in the same period last year, did not export any goods to China in the first four months of 2025.
Equatorial Guinea’s exports to China fell by nearly half (48.1%), reaching $203.5 million (€177 million).
Exports from Timor-Leste, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe shrank by 96.1%, 83.3%, and 58.3% respectively, though none of these three countries sold more than $5,000 (less than €4,400) worth of goods.
Conversely, Chinese exports to Portuguese-speaking countries marked their best start to a year on record, rising 3.4% to $26.7 billion (€23.2 billion).
This is the highest value for the first four months of a year since the Macau Forum began presenting these data in 2013.
The data show that Brazil remains the largest buyer within the Portuguese-speaking bloc, despite imports from China falling by 0.2% compared to the same period in 2024, to $21.5 billion (€18.7 billion).
However, Portugal, second in line, purchased Chinese goods worth $2.09 billion (€1.81 billion) between January and April, marking a 6.4% increase.
Despite exporting more and importing less, China continues to register a trade deficit with the Portuguese-speaking bloc, which reached $7.57 billion (€6.59 billion) in the first four months of 2025.
Overall, trade between Portuguese-speaking countries and China reached $61 billion (€53 billion), down 15.5% from the same period last year.
