Portugal – navigating towards a clear destination of innovation, investment and exports success

Portugal is preparing for a change to more favourable winds on the international economic scene according to Portugal’s secretary of State for the Economy, João Rui Ferreira.

Addressing movers and shakers at the 2nd ‘Portugal Investment by Global Citizens 2025′ conference in Lisbon on Friday, he said that Portugal’s destination was very clear – improving the lives of the Portuguese by bringing value to the country.

Value was created by its companies, by investors, as well as the public sector. “Portugal has always looked out to the world, we have always been global, a global village, and one of the great advantages that we have is that we are always thinking globally”, he said, adding that Portugal was also a safe port for investors.

João Rui Ferreira said that Portugal today has a “capital of confidence” and inspired all who wanted to invest from individual investors to companies that wanted to set up in Portugal.

And this confidence was built on concrete data with Portugal growing 2.1% in 2024, exceeding the average growth rate for the European Union which was at 0.8%.

The forecasts for 2025 and 2026 also pointed in a positive direction with Portugal clearly positioning itself in the top league table of European GDP growth at projected to be around 1.9 % in 2025 and 1.8 % in 2026, according to recent forecasts from organisations like the Council for Public Finances (CFP).

Public finances too were balanced. “In the first half of 2025 we saw a budget extension of 1% of GDP (meaning surplus) with among the three largest positive balances in the Euro Zone and stability with inflation that was “controlled”.

The latest data from September, he said, saw a reduction in public debt for the last quarter with the government on track to reduce it to below 90% of GDP.

“We have had positive news on the ratings agency side with positive ‘A’s”. (Fitch upgraded Portugal’s rating to “A” from “A-” with a stable outlook while at the end of August, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) upgraded its rating from “A” to “A+”.

“These indicators are a basis to support this stability and a sign of economic responsibility and we have an ambition not to stay in a place of comfort or confidence, but to have more ambition and build on top of such good moments”, said the secretary of State for the Economy.

However, confidence on its own was not enough – one had to have vision and Portugal has both economic and strategic vision.

“We want to be a European innovation and stability hub and we are well on the way to building one”, said the secretary of State.

And added that between January and May 2025, 82% of the energy consumed in Portugal came from renewable sources, which put Portugal in a very favorable position.

João Rui Ferreira said that Portugal came 7th in the Global Peace Index, 3rd in the Global Quality of Life Index, and was very well placed as a country for growth and investment attraction.

“Today, we have six companies that are unicorn on a global level and a growing network of technology startups.”

And in terms of overseas investment stock, 2025 saw €200Bn of FDI or 70% of Portugal’s GDP and an increase of 74% over 10 years.

Portugal was among the top 10 destinations for European FDI projects. “Today, we have a performance, even within a challenging global context, where Portugal has diversified and will continue to diversify its exports.”

Im fact, exports (excluding fuel products) had grown by around 2% while working together with European partners and Brussels to widen its global perspectives even more.

“Shortly we will announce an agreement with Mercosul which will provide a very important opportunity for Portugal. Portugal is not a spectator in this, but an actor and we’re working hard to open up more opportunities for European and Portuguese companies”, said João Rui Ferreira.

One of Portugal’s main differentiating factors for attracting capital apart from its confidence and vision was the talent of its workforce with a very high proficiency in English and a capacity to communicate.

And 30% of students in higher education were in STEM areas (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) with Portugal being the third country in Europe with the greatest numbers of degrees in Engineering.

As for startups, in 2024 these grew by around 20% to 4,700 companies employing 27,000 people in the ecosystem generating a business volume of around €3Bn.

Portugal has a network of startup and scale-up 130 incubators, many of which feature in the Financial Times European rankings as among the best in Europe.

And Portugal was and continued to partner sectors with a long tradition with this new generation of startup technologies in the creation of tools with a huge potential from other countries not just in our startups ecosystems but how this ecosystem is transforming our more traditional Portuguese ecosystems (such as production technology, the metals industry, textiles and footwear).

Portugal was also in a perfect position to create an Atlantic platform between the Americas and Europe because of its geographical advantage which culturally and socially fitted perfectly between these two realities.

“We’re a stable and safe country, with a lifestyle quality that allows companies to develop, with a clear and firm commitment to energy transition and the digitalization of the economy in a more competitive and productive way”, concluded the secretary of State for the Economy, João Rui Ferreira.

Text & Photo: Chris Graeme