In 2023, the municipality of Vila Nova de Famalicão recorded its highest ever volume of exports, consolidating its position as the largest exporter in the northern region and the third largest exporter in the country, just after Lisbon and Palmela.

Portugal's international trade figures for 2023 were recently released by the National Statistics Institute (INE), confirming Vila Nova de Famalicão as one of the country's largest and most thriving economies. 
According to the INE's provisional figures, for the first time Famalicão has a trade balance of more than 1 billion euros (1048), the result of the difference between exports (2782 million euros) and imports (1734 million euros). 

These figures represent an increase of around 4.2 per cent compared to 2022 - the year in which the municipality recorded a volume of exports of 2616 million euros - and run counter to the national context marked by a decline in exports. 

Also noteworthy is the decrease in imports in the municipality - in 2022, Famalicão registered 1789 million euros - and the fact that Famalicão continues to be the second municipality in the country that contributes the most to the national trade balance.

The mayor of Famalicense speaks of "figures that make us proud, that reinforce the municipality's position as an engine of development in the country and that give even more strength to the title that we bear in 2024 as a European Entrepreneurial Region". 

"We are a fertile territory that grows every year with the strength of our people and our economic agents, but which also grows with the policies to support business activity and entrepreneurship promoted by the municipality," adds Mário Passos.