After doubling its production between 2017 and 2019 (up to 346,000 vehicles), Portugal faced a significant drop in production levels in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic (–24 percent, almost 30,000 vehicles less), from which it has been steadily recovering.
For the country, vehicle production is a strategic sector, representing a business volume of more than €20 billion, 85,000 direct jobs, and 2.4 percent of GDP.1 It is, however, a highly concentrated market dominated by two companies—of which the larger one takes an 80 percent production share.2
In the European context, the production is modest—with a share of about 2 percent.
Electrical vehicles (EVs) represents solely 0.1 percent of Portugal’s 2023 vehicle production (around 200 units). This number compares to 10 percent in Spain (251,000 vehicles) and 30 percent in Germany (1.30 million vehicles).3
