Portugal strengthens its position in the European ranking with Lisbon as the only “strong innovator’ region

Portugal has strengthened its position on the European innovation panorama with the European Innovation Scoreboard 2025 (EIS) highlighting a sustained increase in innovation in the country across several key indicators.

The country has retained its place in the Moderate Innovator category and is close to the European Union average with an index score of 90.7%, up 3% on 2024 and 9% on 2018.

And in terms of the Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2025 (RIS) the Greater Lisbon region was recognised for the first time as a Strong Innovator – the only classification awarded in the RIS25.

EIS 2025 is published by the European Commission positioning Portugal in 16th place among the 27 Member-States.

The report highlights Portugal’s strong performance across various indicators with a particular emphasis on Public Support for Company R&D where Portugal leads with 185.8% of the European average.

Also, Sales of New Innovations in the Market or in a Company stood at 133% of the EU average, putting the country in 4th position.

And Digitalisation, with high indices in high-speed Internet access (121.1%), digital skills (11.2%) and cloud computing uptake. 

Moreover, Portugal also scored well in the Growing Number of IT and Communication Specialists category, reflecting greater technology qualifications in the workforce.