The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on producers in the agri-food sector but the large retail outlets continue importing products that could be purchased nationally. In 2019 alone, agri-food imports reached 10.8 million euros. Without the capacity to export and with the Horeca channel closed, many producers were even forced to destroy their production due to difficulties in selling their products.

The European Commission’s spring forecasts state that Portugal may close 2020 with an unemployment rate of 9.7%, 3.2 percentage points above last year figures. In other words, this year we will have approximately 170 thousand new unemployed, which would mean that at the end of December Portugal would have more than 500 thousand people without a job. This forecast, however, may be adjusted by default or by excess, depending on the evolution of the new coronavirus, but also on the economic behaviour of the Portuguese. It’s worth mentioning the recent words by the Minister of Finance, Mário Centeno: “We may be witnessing a drop in nominal GDP terms of more than €15 billion in annual terms”. Hence, the individual choice of each consumer, but also the procurement policy of the major distribution chains will play a leading role in preventing the unemployment figures from meeting, or even exceeding, these forecasts.