Portuguese enterprises among those least committed to innovation in the EU

More and more companies are focusing on innovation. Between 2016 and 2018, half of all enterprises in the European Union (EU) with at least ten employees have been committed to innovation. And if Estonia is the leader in the EU bloc, Portugal ranks at the bottom of the table, in 21st place.

According to data released this Friday by Eurostat, 50.3% of “the enterprises in the EU with at least 10 people employed reported innovation activity in the three-year period 2016 – 2018, slightly more than in the period 2014 – 2016 (49.5%).”

Topping the list of Member States whose enterprises are most committed to innovation is Estonia, with more than seven out of ten enterprises doing so (73.1%), followed by Cyprus (68.2%), Belgium and Germany (both 67.8%). Still with a high innovation performance are the Italian (63.2%), Swedish (63.1%), Austrian (62.2%), Finnish (61.9%) and Greek (60.3%) enterprises. All these countries “had more than 60% of innovative enterprises,” points out the European Statistics Office.

As for Portugal, it is almost at the end of the table, in the 21st position (this counting the United Kingdom, which in the period under review was still part of the Community bloc), although ahead of neighbouring Spain. In this context, less than 40% of national companies, with at least ten employees, are committed to innovation, of which just over 10% show that they have introduced new products on the market.

At the end of the table is Romania, with only 14.6% of companies innovating, followed by Poland (23.7%) and Hungary (28.3%). Of the 28 Member States that make up the EU bloc for the three-year period 2016-2018, these three countries show innovation levels of less than 30%.