Lisbon, May 27, 2026 (Lusa) - Investment in Portugal's health service (SNS) in 2025 brought an economic return of €10.2 billion by preventing work absences and boosting productivity, a study released on Wednesday shows.
Data from the new Sustainable Health Index, developed by the Nova Information Management School (Nova IMS) and accessed by Lusa, shows that almost half (around 47%) of Portugal's workers missed at least one day of work due to health issues, and 7.7% missed more than 20 days.
The data reveals that healthcare provision prevented an average of 1.4 days of work absence, representing a saving of €800 million.
Regarding productivity, the SNS prevented the loss of 11.1 days of work per person, resulting in an additional saving of €6 billion.
The health service achieved a total saving of €6.8 billion (via salaries) by combining the impact on absenteeism and productivity, which translates into an economic return of €10.2 billion when considering the relationship between productivity and remuneration.
“The impact of the SNS [on the economy] is unquestionable and the value we estimate, through salaries alone, is almost €7 billion,” said the study's coordinator, Pedro Simões Coelho, noting the reinforcement of a trend that had appeared previously: the health service lost impact on absenteeism and gained in increasing productivity.
He said that this evolution makes sense in a post-Covid world, where forms of work organisation changed: “Now there is less contribution [from the SNS] to absenteeism, but a huge contribution, especially in presenteeism.”
The 2025/26 edition of the Sustainable Health Index incorporates a methodological update aligned with the evolution of the SNS itself, which moved to capitation funding, and includes a new component dedicated to prevention.
Users recognise the greatest impact of the health service in dimensions related to health status and quality of life.
Some components of the index are based on the past, and their evolution results in ever-increasing financial pressure on the health service, although the authors warn that it is impossible to directly compare the 2026 index with the 2025 index.
The new SNS sustainability index stands at 59.3 points (from 0 to 100). A substantial increase in expenditure (+9.1%), a rise in the stock of overdue debt (-31%), a slight reduction in activity, the stabilisation of quality levels, decreased accessibility, and the results of the new prevention component contribute to this score.
“It is a system whose main strength continues to be quality (...) and which continues to have accessibility as a weak point,” Simões Coelho explained, noting the “high financial pressure” on the SNS.
The authors will present the results on Wednesday at the Belém Cultural Centre in Lisbon.
SO/LYT // ADB.
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