Portugal has strengthened its position in the European innovation landscape, as highlighted by the European Innovation Scoreboard 2025 (EIS) released by the European Commission. This report marks a sustained rise in several key indicators for the country, according to a statement from the Agência Nacional de Inovação (ANI).
Portugal remained in the Moderate Innovator category, drawing closer to the EU average with an index of 90.7%, which is three percentage points higher than in 2024 and nine points up from 2018. This ranking compares the Research and Innovation (R&D) performance of EU Member States, other European countries, and global competitors.
The report highlighted strengths in Portugal’s performance, including public support for business R&D—where the country leads the EU with 185.8% of the European average—as well as in new market or company innovations, digitalization, and the growth in the number of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) specialists.
“Despite the progress, there are still some structural challenges, such as increasing private investment in R&D, boosting venture capital, enhancing the value of innovation in high-tech exports, and progressively improving labor productivity. These elements continue to influence the competitive positioning of the country and its regions,” noted the ANI.
Regionally, the Regional Innovation Scoreboard 2025 (RIS) acknowledged Greater Lisbon as a Strong Innovator, reaching 109.6% of the EU average, currently ranking 77th in Europe, a growth of 18.7% since 2018.
This region leads among the nine Portuguese regions, excelling in areas like ICT employment, scientific co-publications, and innovation sales, ANI pointed out.
The Centro region also surpassed the average for the Moderate Innovators group, joining the Moderate+ category with 90.1% of the EU average.
“All Portuguese regions have shown improvements since 2018, indicating a positive and cohesive evolution of the national innovation system,” ANI emphasized.
