According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), the sector represented 4.4% of production, 3.1% of Gross Value Added (GVA), 4.5% of exports and 2.7% of employment in the Portuguese economy.


When releasing the sector's accounts, the Institute stated that "after a year of contraction marked by the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic", in 2021 there was "strong growth" in production (24.6%), in GVA ( 20.6%), exports (22.3%) and employment (11.4%), and above the average for the national economy (12.1%, 7.0%, 20.1% and 2.4 %, respectively), due to the growth of activities associated with renewable energy.

In 2020, Portugal ranked 15th in terms of the weight of the environmental goods and services sector's GVA in the national GVA (2.8% and equal to the EU average), having dropped three positions compared to the previous year. The country maintained the fifth position among the member states with the highest weight of exports in the national total (4.4%).