Business in Portugal

The Annual Global Retirement Index places Portugal as the seventh best destination in the world to retire. The top three destinations listed by International Living are Costa Rica, Mexico and Panama. Spain has listed two positions below Portugal in ninth and is the only other European nation on the list.

According to International Living’s report, “the third-safest country in the world in the 2017 Global Peace Index, Portugal is not only secure but beautiful.” It adds that “if Portugal’s attributes have convinced you to give it a try, here’s a tip: Begin your test drive in the capital. Lisbon is easy to reach, with direct flights from major cities around the world.”

Business formation with new businesses having been started in Portugal went up in 2017. Over 3,687 new companies were registered in Lisbon (14.5% more than in 2016), while Porto registered 7,107 new firms (5% up on the previous year).

On the other hand, business failures in Portugal fell 12.7% in 2017 compared with 2016 to 6,284, while the number of new companies being set up rose 9.1%, to 40,465. Lisbon and Porto saw the highest number of bankruptcies – 1,683 and 1,330 respectively, but these were still 2.4% and 15.4% lower than in 2016.

In the world's largest technology fair, there are no doubts: Portugal is among the 13 international champions of innovation, alongside countries like Finland, United Kingdom, Sweden, Singapore, Canada, Czech Republic, Austria, Denmark and New Zealand.

Among the 12 items evaluated, Portugal excelled in four:
- freedom (it is among the countries with more political and individual freedom);
- drones (it is among the countries where the best technology for drones is born);
- short-term rentals (countries with the best conditions to rent a house for a short time) and;
- environment (it is among the countries with the best water and air quality).

International Innovation Scorecard, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) identifies the critical areas of national policy that spur innovation, and reveals the areas in which countries may be stunting their own growth and preventing global innovation from blossoming to its full potential.

The price of the square meter in the country was valued at 1,141 euros, the highest value since May 2011.

The banking valuation of houses has increased for seven consecutive months. The price at which banks evaluate households when granting housing loans doesn't stop rising. The trend of this indicator accompanies the upward trend in house prices in Portugal.

According to the official data, the average value of the bank evaluation of the homes in October was 1,141 euros per square meter. This figure corresponds to an increase of six euros compared to the value registered in the previous month and is also the highest level since May 2011.