LISBON: Portugal's global trade deficit widened 6 percent in the three months between August and October from a year earlier as imports rose more than exports, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Friday.

The trade deficit, which is for goods only, rose to 2.97 billion euros ($3.15 billion) in the period. In October alone, exports fell 3.5 percent from a year ago and imports dropped 1.7 percent, making the gap widen by almost 9 percent to 870 million euros.

In August-October, exports outside of the European Union fell 2.3 percent and imports from non-EU countries rose 0.9 percent. Traditional Portuguese export markets outside Europe, such as Angola and Brazil, have seen sharp economic slowdowns.

But exports to European Union countries, Portugal's main market, rose by 4.2 percent while imports from those countries increased by 3.7 percent.

The country has been running a surplus in the combined trade of goods and services, helping the economic growth.