One in six Portuguese companies expects more investment this year

One in six Portuguese companies admits it will invest more this year, according to a survey released today by the European Investment Bank (EIB), which highlights the “strong investment intentions” compared with the EU context, of 16% versus 4%.
The issue is an annual survey released today by the EIB on investment in Portugal, which reports that “the net balance of companies that expect to increase investment in 2025 stands at 16%, one of the highest in the EU [European Union] and substantially above the European average (4%).”.
After having interviewed, between April and July 2025, 480 national companies, in a total sample of 12,000 in the EU, the EIB notes that “Portuguese companies continue to show strong investment intentions and maintain a more optimistic outlook on the business landscape of their sectors than the EU average.”
“They are investing more than the European average in innovation and making greater use of AI [artificial intelligence] tools for internal processes,” as well as “investing more in issues related to climate change than in previous years and diversifying sources of imports to respond to disruptions in value chains,” lists the European credit institution in the document, to which Lusa had access.
The proportion of Portuguese companies that invested in the last financial year is 84%, a figure similar to that of 2024 (82%) and close to the EU average (86%).
Quoted in a press release, the EIB’s chief economist Debora Revoltella points out that this survey “reveals that Portuguese companies have strong investment intentions and a positive outlook on the sector.”
“They are stepping up investment in climate action and investing more than the EU average in innovation, which clearly demonstrates their commitment to competitiveness and the green transition,” the official concludes.
In turn, “Portuguese companies are increasingly pessimistic about the overall economic climate and the political/regulatory climate,” recording a negative balance worse than that of the EU on this issue (-45% versus -30%), the EIB document indicates.
“Despite this, there is a positive net balance of companies that believe that the business outlook for their sector will improve over the next 12 months (14%), a figure well above the EU average (0%). Companies in Portugal are also more optimistic than the EU average regarding access to external (11% vs 1%) and internal (16% vs 9%) financing,” it is noted.
As for obstacles to investment, these focus on the unavailability of qualified workers and uncertainty about the future as the main barriers, as well as on business regulations and the labor market.
“In all these cases, the obstacles are greater than those faced by the average EU company,” it is stated.
As for gender equality, Portuguese companies have one of the highest shares of female representation in leadership positions in the EU, since 41% have at least 40% women in top management, a figure higher than the European average of 25%.