Lisbon, June 5, 2025 (Lusa) - Swedish companies plan to invest more in Portugal this year and most anticipate significant growth in activity in 2025, according to a survey by Business Sweden, the Swedish Embassy in Lisbon and the Portuguese-Swedish Chamber of Commerce.
Conducted in February and March and released on Thursday, as part of Sweden’s National Day which is celebrated on Friday, the Business Climate Survey also shows that Swedish companies are more optimistic about the business climate in Portugal compared to 2023.
“Swedish companies are optimistic about Portugal’s economic development, which translates into a greater willingness to invest in the Portuguese market,” the promoters said in a statement, detailing that more than half of Swedish companies (51%) will increase their investment in the Portuguese market in 2025, compared to 41% in the 2023 inquiry.
This figure is particularly high among companies that have entered the Portuguese market more recently, particularly since 2020: Of these, 68% (two out of three) expect to increase their investment in Portugal during the current year.
The Swedish companies surveyed were also more optimistic about the evolution of their economic activity in Portugal: 73% expect it to increase, compared to only 57% in 2023, with 76% being profitable in 2024, a better performance than two years earlier.
Most of the Swedish companies that participated in this survey arrived in Portugal after 2019, operating in sectors ranging from pharmaceuticals to healthcare, fintech, digitalisation, security, automotive, energy/electricity, business services and consumer goods.
According to data from the Bank of Portugal (BdP) cited in the statement, Swedish investment in Portugal has almost doubled since 2019.
Among the “main Swedish companies with a presence and reputation in Portugal”, the press release highlights Securitas, IKEA, Diaverum, Essity, Ericsson and Volvo Car Portugal, highlighting among the investments made in recent years the installation by Corpower, in Viana do Castelo, of the first equipment to convert wave energy into electricity, and the recent purchase by Bolinden of the Neves-Corvo copper, lead and zinc mine in Castro Verde.
Quoted in the statement, the Swedish ambassador to Portugal said that “these results show that Swedish investment has not only been a reality” in the country, but “is set to continue”.
“Swedish companies are optimistic about the performance of the Portuguese economy and will continue to invest and create jobs,” said Elizabeth Eklund, considering that “Portugal offers a very attractive scenario for Swedish investment, combining clean energy, robust infrastructure, global connectivity and a highly skilled workforce”.
The president of the Portuguese-Swedish Chamber of Commerce, Jennifer Ekström, maintains that “Portugal is a country that stands out in the European landscape due to several factors: it has highly qualified professionals with a very high level of English, as well as a very dynamic start-up ecosystem, with several incubators and accelerators across the country, and various incentives for activity in various sectors”.
The survey was sent to 99 of the approximately 120 Swedish companies operating in Portugal, and 37 responses were received.
Of the companies represented in the survey, almost half (46%) are large companies with more than 1,000 employees globally, 5% are medium-sized (with between 250 and 1,000 employees globally) and 49% are classified as small companies with fewer than 250 employees globally.
The sectors represented by the Swedish companies surveyed fall into three broad categories: industrial companies (52%), professional services (37%) and consumer goods companies (11%).
In terms of experience in the Portuguese market, 32% of the companies surveyed established operations in Portugal before 2003, 38% between 2004–2019 and 29% after 2019.
PD/AYLS // AYLS
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