As one of Europe’s fastest-growing economies and an increasingly important innovation and technology hub, Portugal continues to offer significant opportunities for Swedish companies. Strong infrastructure, a growing tech ecosystem, renewable energy leadership, and strategic links to markets in Africa and the Americas make Portugal an attractive market across multiple sectors.
At the same time, companies report a more demanding operating environment. Regulatory complexity, bureaucracy, corporate taxation, and global economic uncertainty continue to affect competitiveness and investment decisions. Companies also point to labour shortages and structural challenges as ongoing concerns.
Cooperation between Sweden and Portugal remains strong within sectors such as renewable energy, technology, industrial equipment, automotive, life sciences, and digital services. Portugal’s continued investments in innovation, sustainability, renewable energy, and digitalisation continue to create opportunities for Swedish companies offering sustainable and high-value solutions.
Competitiveness in Portugal is closely linked to partnerships, brand awareness, sales competence, service development, and operational efficiency. The Swedish brand continues to be associated with sustainability, innovation, quality, and reliability.
Portugal is widely regarded as an attractive and stable market with strong infrastructure, high levels of personal safety, and a growing innovation ecosystem. However, companies also point to regulatory barriers, bureaucracy, and taxation as ongoing challenges.
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ABOUT THE SURVEY
To assess the opportunities and challenges faced by Swedish companies in international markets, Team Sweden conducts annual Business Climate Surveys across multiple markets worldwide. This year’s survey in Portugal includes responses from 41 Swedish companies operating in the country. Industrial companies represent a significant share of respondents, while professional services and consumer companies also make up a considerable share. The majority of respondents have been active in Portugal for more than five years.
We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to all participating companies and respondents who contributed to this report. Team Sweden in Portugal hopes that the findings will serve as a basis for continued dialogue with Portuguese authorities and other relevant stakeholders.
