A Portuguese study just published by IDC Portugal on the Future of Innovation in the IT Services sector describes the main trends and the Future Vision of Portugal in 2024.
The IT sector contributes to Portugal’s economic growth and accounts for 0.8% of GDP, with revenue growth of 10%. The number of companies operating in the sector grew by 6% since the IT sector in Portugal has a solid ecosystem for startups as well as 6 global unicorns that have a total value of over EUR 33.9 billion. The number of unicorns per capita in Portugal is already higher than the global average.
The six Portuguese unicorns in the IT sector are Farfetch, Talkdesk, Outsystems, Feedzai, Remote and Sword Health. SWORD Health is the new Portuguese unicorn and is valued at USD 2 billion. The company develops treatments for musculoskeletal disorders. FARFETCH is valued at EUR 12.770 M, Outsystems at EUR 8.370 M and Talkdesk at EUR 8.810 M.
The Portuguese IT sector is mature, dynamic and resilient. It registered growth in all market segments and it is to be noted that there is an accelerated growth in the number of software companies. Portugal’s competitive advantage is the availability of local talent, while goods and services are produced at competitive prices. A number of multinational companies have selected Portugal as their IT hub due to the availability of a pool of qualified individuals. The dynamism of the Portuguese IT ecosystem is driven by the development of a number of innovative solutions for the global market.
Portugal is ranked 7th out of 112 countries in the English Proficiency Index, 28th out of 134 countries in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index and 31st out of 132 countries in the Global Innovation Index.
The software and services segment registered an average growth of around 15% while exports from this segment registered an average growth of 21% over the last five years.
The main opportunities that are identified in the Portuguese IT sector are software applications, platforms, analytics, AI as well as cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).
Mature export markets include Western Europe and the US in the software segment. This segment is expected to register a higher growth for all regions compared to other IT segments.
Concerning less mature export markets such as China and Latin America, it is expected that there will be a higher growth rate. For these markets, there are opportunities for innovative technologies.
In 2023, half of organizations will generate over 40% of income from digital goods and services. This is due to the fact that the pandemic has accelerated Portugal’s digital transformation. It is to be noted that decarbonization initiatives are part of the country’s digital transformation and that 90% of organizations intend to reduce carbon emissions by the end of 2023.
Portugal’s ICT sector is comprised of 24,000 companies that employ over 147,000 people, thus accounting for 3.6% of jobs. It has registered revenues of over EUR 21.101 million, accounting for 5.4% of the total turnover of Portuguese companies. The main share comes from the IT services segment that includes software and telecommunications. Revenues from the services sector amount to EUR 13.396 M, out of which EUR 6.134 come from the telecommunications segment.
In 2020, exports from the ICT sector were around 24% of total revenues, with the main services exported being the consulting and computer programming segments, while data processing services are also in demand. Exports of software and IT services register an average annual growth of 21%.
The consulting and computer programming sector includes a number of innovative software companies and accounts for 30% of the total turnover. This segment registered an average annual growth of 12.3% during the period 2015-2020.
Due to the pandemic, Portugal registered a decrease of 10% in revenues in 2020 compared to the previous year. However, revenues from the ICT sector grew by 4.6% during the same period.
The forecasts for the Portuguese IT sector include accelerated investments in the field of digital transformation by 2025, with over 55% of total investments expected to be in the Information and Communication Technology sector.
These figures show the resilience and dynamism of Portugal’s IT services sector, while the future vision shows its high growth potential by 2024.