Relations between the two countries date back as early as the 17th century, when the Kingdom of Portugal sent its first ambassador, Tristão de Mendonça Furtado, to the United Provinces of the Netherlands in 1641.

In the opposite direction, cultural and social impulses increasingly came to Portugal from the Netherlands, such as the influence of Early Netherlandish painting on Portuguese artists.

In addition to the military successes, the influx of Sephardic Jews from Iberia was another decisive factor in the rise of the Netherlands as a major trading power.

Amsterdam's Portuguese Synagogue, inaugurated in 1675, bears witness to this time, traces of which can still be seen today and which, despite all the economic and political conflicts, also brought Portugal and the Netherlands closer together.

In February 1641, Tristão de Mendonça Furtado accredited himself as the first Portuguese representative to the Republic of the United Netherlands, which itself had to defend itself against the Spanish during the Eighty Years' War.

Although Portugal remained neutral during the Second World War, Portuguese Timor was nevertheless invaded by Dutch and Australian forces in 1941 in order to forestall a Japanese invasion.

Since then, their economic relations have grown considerably, as have mutual migration, tourism and civil society exchanges in areas such as culture, science, environmental protection, energy, youth organizations and sport.

Most recently, the common interest in the further development of renewable energies was the subject of joint consultations, in particular their Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of green hydrogen signed in 2020.