High-tech exports help less and less the recovery – Mad Money

Exports grow robustly. And where does the force? About 80% come from low and medium tech sectors

Oil refining is one of the export champions in Portugal
John Manuel Ribeiro / Global Graphics

The recovery of the Portuguese economy based on a “robust” growth in exports, which supposedly will lead to a structural change of the productive fabric, plus facing “out”. However, according to a government analysis, little has changed for the better since 2004 in terms of technological sophistication and degree of intrinsic expertise of so-called sector of tradable goods. The analysis does not rely on the services.

The productions of “low technology” continue to dominate, accounting for 36% of sales abroad. “High tech” products are to lose weight since 2004 at least worth less than 7% of the total.

The Ministry of Economy, through the design office, makes a regular analysis on international trade by level of technological intensity. The main conclusions are:. Until May of this year, total exports of “industrial processed products” had a significant nominal growth of around 5% year on year (compared to May 2014)

The most contribution came from medium-low technology products (2.6 percentage points), especially oil refining, which dominates this group.

Low technology has the second largest contribution to the increase in exports (1.6 points), especially in the segment of food products, beverages and tobacco). It is this group that appears the paper industry and the textile troika, clothing and footwear. In both the boost to export growth was only 0.2 points, the study says.