Economic portrait of the city highlights above average innovation and qualifications

Porto’s economy has the factors in investment in Investigation and Development and in the level of staff training that better stand out in comparison to the rest of the country. The data from Novobanco’s study refer to 2021 and were presented in the debate promoted by the newspaper ECO, that counted on the presence of the councillor for Economy, Employment and Entrepreneurship, Ricardo Valente.

Porto registers a growing and expressive tendency in innovation, with the biggest amount – 271 million euros – going to higher education, followed by companies and the State. It is in Invicta where the biggest number of researchers per thousand inhabitants can be found: the 32% that exceed the country’s average that remains at 5,4%.

Still in the field of innovation and competitiveness, the study mentions the 4.474 projects by Porto that have been approved in regard to Portugal 2020, financed in circa 963 million euros, the same number attributed from the Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência for other 2.441 projects, most of which went to the fields of transportation, such as the subway, and health, inside the national networks of long-term integrated care and palliative care.

Novobanco’s study revealed that the volume of businesses from Porto’s companies were superior to 15 billion euros in 2021, an increased relatively to last year, and represents 3.5% of the country’s total.

Most companies operating in the city are from the legal and accounting sectors, consulting, architecture, and engineering. Following these sectors are commerce, vehicles repair, administration, and support services.

Level of staff training above national average

Regarding to the levels of training, the workers of Porto sit above the national average. In the fields of Science and Technology, the city has 704 graduates per thousand inhabitants.

Novobanco analysed, equally, the workers’ income and concluded that the net income is 37% superior to the rest of the country and that the purchase power is also 54% above the national average.

In 2021, the city attained 105,5 million euros of profits from tourist accommodations. The number of nights spent in hotels is led by the Portuguese, followed by Spanish, French and Germans.

The largest European hub in Science, Maths, and Informatics

The presentation of results counted on the participation of Novobanco’s administrator Luís Ribeiro, financial director of Taylor’s group, Rui Magalhães, Jorge Quintas, from Nelson Quintas group, and Filipe Barrias, director general of Barrias group, owner of Guarany and Majestic, that analysed Porto’s economy and its new challenges.

As for Ricardo Valente, in economic terms, Porto is living “its best moment ever as a city”. The councillor for Economy, Employment and Entrepreneurship believes that “never, in a decade, has the city seen such a big transformation, in economical terms”, that has brought this “economical expertise”. Lately, he added, tourism represents circa 17% of the employment, with the technological areas ensuring 14% of its total.

However, the “area of influence goes from Braga to Aveiro”, making this area “the biggest hub of graduates in Science, Maths, and Informatics”, Ricardo Valente highlights, recalling that “this allowed to bring an enormous flow of foreign investment”, around 2,7 billion euros, in the Metropolitan Area of Porto in the last three years, and the creation of more than 17 thousand jobs.

From the momentum of the tourist sector, the councillor highlights how Porto has felt “a radical change in its spending profile”, with North Americans leading the volume of spendings in the city in this year’s first trimester.

Ricardo Valente mentioned that the Municipality’s plans to “create a centre of food and business in the city, made in partnership with Basque Culinary Center”. “We want to create a space of appreciation, investigation, and innovation, from the point of view of local gastronomy and staff training”, the councillor for Economy, Employment, and Entrepreneurship.

He concluded expressing the desire to make “Porto a city and not a resort. We want it to be a good city to live in, to visit, and to work”, Ricardo Valente said.