Portugal had 69,876 manufacturing enterprises in 2024 (Eurostat), and the Norte holds 47% of manufacturing sites and 52% of the jobs. GETMILK's atlas lists at least 1,882 active Portuguese manufacturers (September 2026); this page maps them by sector and region, with the clusters and associations a buyer should start from.
Portugal had 69,876 manufacturing enterprises in 2024, employing 750,259 people, according to Eurostat [1], and almost half of the country's manufacturing sites are in the Norte region [2]. For a buyer the useful map is narrower: moulds around Marinha Grande and Oliveira de Azeméis, footwear around Felgueiras, textiles in the Ave and Cávado valleys, cork in Santa Maria da Feira and furniture in Paços de Ferreira [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]. GETMILK's own atlas lists at least 1,882 active Portuguese manufacturers (September 2026), and 58% of those we can place are in the Norte.
Key facts
- 69,876 manufacturing enterprises and 750,259 people employed in 2024 (NACE section C) [1]; INE's own count, via PORDATA, is 69,898 [3].
- Norte holds 34,780 of 73,885 manufacturing sites (47%) and 52% of manufacturing jobs; Centro follows with 13,640 sites (2024) [2].
- Metalworking and metallurgy exported a record €24,169m in 2025, 75% of it to the EU [9].
- Auto components: about 360 companies and 62,500 direct jobs, €14.3bn turnover in 2025 [10].
- Moulds: about 472 companies and 9,972 workers; about 80% of the €788m produced in 2024 was exported [4] [13].
- GETMILK's atlas lists at least 396 textile producers, 347 of them in the Norte (September 2026).
How many manufacturers are there in each sector?
The table sets the official count per sector next to what GETMILK's atlas holds and where. The official column is Eurostat's 2024 enterprise count by NACE division [1]; the atlas column is our own count of active Portuguese records (September 2026). Our sector groups are wider than one NACE division, so compare the order of magnitude, not the exact figure.
| Sector (NACE) | Enterprises 2024 [1] | GETMILK atlas, Sept 2026 | Densest region |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fabricated metal products (C25) and machinery (C28) | 12,391 and 1,480 | at least 67 metals and machining | Countrywide; 41 of our records in the Norte |
| Clothing (C14) and leather and footwear (C15) | 8,290 and 2,521 | at least 183 | Norte (98 records) |
| Wood and cork (C16) and furniture (C31) | 4,943 and 4,545 | at least 166 | Norte (134 records) |
| Textiles (C13) | 3,675 | at least 396 | Norte (347 records) |
| Rubber and plastics (C22), moulds | 1,133 | at least 331, of which 96 tagged as mould makers | Centro (110 records) |
| Electrical (C27) and electronics (C26) | 581 and 300 | at least 172 with energy and optics | Lisbon, Norte, Centro |
| Motor vehicles and parts (C29), aerospace, defence | 673 in C29 | at least 147 | Norte and Lisbon (51 each) |
| Medical devices, pharma, cosmetics | not one division | at least 211 | Lisbon (91 records) |
The atlas is not a census. It was built by research passes aimed at export sectors (textiles, plastics, furniture, defence), so it over-represents those and under-represents small metal shops, which are the biggest official group.
Where are manufacturers concentrated, region by region?
Eurostat counts manufacturing sites (local units) by NUTS 2 region for 2024 [2]:
- Norte: 34,780 sites and 384,492 jobs, about half of Portuguese manufacturing [2]. Textiles and clothing sit in the Ave and Cávado valleys [6]; Felgueiras is the largest footwear hub, with more than 20,000 people employed [5]; Paços de Ferreira has 735 furniture companies [8]; Santa Maria da Feira held 76% of the country's cork companies in APCOR's 2020 yearbook [7]; Oliveira de Azeméis is the second mould cluster [4]. In a 2021 AFIA count, 55% of auto-component plants were in the Norte [15].
- Centro: 13,640 sites [2]. Marinha Grande, in the Leiria district, is the historic centre of mould making [4].
- Grande Lisboa and Península de Setúbal: 8,785 and 3,008 sites [2], where our atlas finds most of its pharma, medical-device and defence records.
- Oeste e Vale do Tejo: 5,898 sites [2]; Alentejo: 3,109, including the former Embraer aerostructure plants in Évora, owned by Spain's Aernnova since 2022 [17].
What does GETMILK's atlas add to the official numbers?
Official statistics tell you how many firms exist; they do not name them or say what they can make. GETMILK's atlas is a database of named manufacturers with processes, categories and locations, built for matching a product to producers. Of the 1,385 active Portuguese manufacturers in it whose location we can place, 808 (58%) are in the Norte, 263 (19%) in Centro, 231 (17%) in Grande Lisboa and Setúbal, 46 in Oeste e Vale do Tejo and 31 in the Alentejo. The Norte share is higher than Eurostat's 47% of sites [2] because the atlas leans towards textiles and furniture, both Norte industries.
How we counted (methods). Read-only query of the atlas on 28 September 2026: active records with country code PT, minus records located in France or Spain and records tagged as banks, software firms, associations or research bodies (209 excluded). Sectors come from the first matching keyword in each record's category tags; regions from place names, NUTS codes or the postcode in the record, mapped to the 2024 NUTS 2 regions. 497 records have no usable location. Tags are messy, so every figure is a lower bound.
What should a buyer know about each major sector?
- Metalworking. The largest exporter, €24,169m in 2025 [9], and the largest official group, spread across the country [1]. AIMMAP is the association. Expect machining, sheet metal, welding and casting shops of every size; ask for measurement reports, not just certificates.
- Moulds and plastics. About two thirds of mould production goes to cars [13], so mould makers are looking for other sectors. CEFAMOL is the entry point. Our injection mould cost guide covers what a tool costs.
- Auto components. Exports fell 7.8% in the first seven months of 2026 [10]. AFIA is the association; if you are an automotive buyer, ask for IATF 16949 before anything else.
- Textiles and clothing. 11,965 companies and more than 118,000 jobs in 2024 [11]. ATP represents the sector; ask about minimum runs per colour and fabric before sampling.
- Footwear. About 93% of production is exported, to 174 markets [12]; the cluster has about 1,900 companies and 42,000 workers [19]. APICCAPS is the entry point.
- Wood, cork and furniture. Cork exports passed €1.1bn in 2025, more than 70% of it stoppers [20]; furniture exports top €2bn, about 90% of output [18].
- Electrical and electronics. Over €10bn turnover, 45,000+ employees and about €6.4bn exports in 2024 [16]. For boards, read our note on PCB assembly for small batches.
- Aerospace and defence. About 180 entities, 20,000 jobs and €2.1bn turnover, 92% exported [14].
How do you find and verify a supplier in Portugal?
- Start from the process, not the country. List the processes your product needs, then go to the cluster for each; our guide on how to find a manufacturer in Europe walks through it.
- Use the associations above as entry points. They publish most of the sector figures on this page.
- Check the company. The online commercial register certificate (certidão permanente) shows current registrations [21]; validate the VAT number in VIES [22].
- Check the certificates. IPAC lists accredited certification bodies [23]; IAF CertSearch confirms whether a certificate is valid and what it covers [24].
- See the parts. Ask for samples and measurement reports, and visit or run a video tour before ordering.
What to do next
- Write down the three processes your product depends on and match each to a cluster in the table above.
- Contact the sector association for each process and ask for three members with your volume and material.
- If you want the shortlist built for you, upload a datasheet or BOM to the free spec-to-shortlist tool, or let managed sourcing run the search, the RFQ and the quote comparison; a sourcing project starts at €900 excluding VAT, paid by the buyer. If you already have two qualified suppliers per process, you do not need us.
References
- Eurostat, Structural Business Statistics. Enterprises by detailed NACE Rev.2 activity and special aggregates (sbs_ovw_act), Portugal, NACE C and divisions, 2024 (Data updated 15 September 2026, accessed 28 September 2026)
- Eurostat, Structural Business Statistics. Local units, persons employed and wages by NUTS 2 region and NACE Rev.2 (sbs_r_nuts2021), Portugal, NACE C, 2024 (Data updated 31 August 2026, accessed 28 September 2026)
- PORDATA, with INE data. Empresas no setor da indústria transformadora: total e por tipo (Updated 18 December 2025)
- InterMETAL, citing CEFAMOL. Indústria de moldes portuguesa: novos desafios, novas oportunidades de expansão (4 November 2024)
- Município de Felgueiras. Investimento empresarial (Accessed 27 September 2026)
- GEE, Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia. Indústria têxtil e do vestuário em Portugal: versão síntese (Estratégia 2030) (October 2024)
- APCOR, Associação Portuguesa da Cortiça. Boletim estatístico APCOR 2020 (2020)
- Jornal de Negócios. Mobiliário vale 60% das exportações de Paços de Ferreira (29 July 2019)
- CIP, with AIMMAP data. Indústria metalúrgica e metalomecânica atinge recorde histórico de exportações em 2025 (19 February 2026)
- Jornal Económico, citing AFIA. Exportações de componentes automóveis recuam 7,8% até julho (12 September 2026)
- ECO, citing a Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos study. Com quase 12 mil empresas, têxtil e vestuário vale 8,2 mil milhões e 118 mil empregos (4 September 2026)
- Jornal de Notícias, citing APICCAPS. Portugal foi 18.º produtor e 13.º exportador de calçado a nível global em 2025 (13 September 2026)
- Jornal Económico, citing CEFAMOL. Consequências do mau tempo no setor dos moldes: estragos ainda estão em avaliação (5 February 2026)
- ECO / Lusa, citing the AED Cluster Portugal. Aeroespacial e defesa exportam 92% do que produzem (12 April 2026)
- O Digital / Lusa, citing AFIA. Alentejo com 12 das 358 empresas de produção de componentes para automóveis existentes em Portugal (25 October 2021)
- ANIMEE, Associação Portuguesa das Empresas do Setor Elétrico e Eletrónico. O setor em números (2024 data, accessed 28 September 2026)
- Publituris. Embraer conclui venda das fábricas de Évora à espanhola Aernnova (3 May 2022)
- Renascença, citing APIMA. Exportações de mobiliário ultrapassam os 2 mil milhões de euros (10 March 2025)
- APICCAPS. 42 000 trabalhadores do setor do calçado beneficiam de novo contrato coletivo (9 June 2025)
- UNAC, with INE data. Mercado da cortiça: o balanço de 2025 (10 March 2026)
- IRN, Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado. Pedir Certidão Permanente (registo comercial) (Accessed 27 September 2026)
- European Commission. VIES VAT number validation (Accessed 27 September 2026)
- IPAC, Instituto Português de Acreditação. Pesquisa de entidades acreditadas (Accessed 28 September 2026)
- International Accreditation Forum. IAF CertSearch (Accessed 27 September 2026)
Questions people ask
- How many manufacturing companies are there in Portugal?
- Eurostat counts 69,876 manufacturing enterprises in Portugal in 2024, employing 750,259 people. INE's own figure, published by PORDATA, is 69,898. Most are small: Eurostat's regional data averages about 10 people per manufacturing site.
- Which region of Portugal has the most factories?
- The Norte. In 2024 it had 34,780 of Portugal's 73,885 manufacturing sites and 384,492 manufacturing jobs, more than half of the national total. Centro is second with 13,640 sites.
- Is there a free directory of Portuguese manufacturers?
- Sector associations such as CEFAMOL, APICCAPS, ATP, AIMMAP and AFIA are the usual starting points. GETMILK's atlas listing is free for manufacturers and searchable through the free spec-to-shortlist tool, which matches producers per process from a datasheet or BOM.
- Are Portuguese manufacturers used to small orders?
- Many are small firms, so small orders are common, but minimums vary by process: a mould maker quotes per tool, a textile mill often sets a minimum per colour. State your annual volume as well as the first batch when you ask.