Brussels, July 2, 2024 (Lusa) - Portugal has made progress in recent years in terms of digitalisation, namely the implementation of 5G throughout its territory well before 2030, but people's digital skills are barely above the European average.

According to a report the European Commission released on Tuesday, Portugal is one of the countries in the EU bloc that has successfully implemented the 5G network and has the best coverage in terms of territory and speed - between 3.4 and 3.8 Gigahertz (GHz).

In this respect, "Portugal is a 5G network pioneer in the [European] Union with 65.2% of Portuguese homes covered".

The digitisation of healthcare in Portugal is also above the European average (86% at national level compared to 79.1% in the bloc's countries as a whole) and has grown by 40% since last year.

However, Portugal has two digital "weaknesses": the population's level of digital skills is just over half (56%), although it is slightly above the European average (55.6%), but has grown little in recent years.

In addition, the percentage of people specialising in information technologies is slightly below the European average (4.5% in Portugal and 4.8% in the group of 27).

AFE/ADB // ADB.

Lusa