A Commission staff working document published on 24 June 2026, transmitted to the Council as a cover note, assesses Portugal's progress under the Digital Decade policy programme. The country report finds that while Portugal excels in connectivity and digital public services, it falls behind the EU average in business adoption of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, and recommends targeted actions to close these gaps.
Portugal set 12 of 14 possible national Digital Decade targets, achieving 92% alignment with EU 2030 goals, and all of its 2025 trajectory points are on track. It addressed 89% of the nine Commission recommendations from 2025, with 22% prompting significant policy changes and 67% some changes. The total public budget for roadmap measures is EUR 1.6 billion, though 62% of measures are set to end by the end of 2026, raising questions about sustained investment.
fixed very high-capacity network coverage reaches 97.08% (EU 85.54%), fibre-to-the-premises 95.53% (EU 74.13%), and overall 5G coverage 99.13% (EU 96.79%). However, 5G coverage in the 3.4–3.8 GHz band in sparsely populated areas stands at only 23.11% (EU 33.71%), with annual growth of 7.8% compared to the EU's 32.9%, indicating a widening gap in rural 5G rollout.
Business digitalisation remains a weak spot. Only 63.9% of SMEs have at least basic digital intensity (EU 71.4%), cloud uptake is 34.1% (EU 46.7%), and AI uptake is 11.5% (EU 20.0%). At least basic digital skills among the population reach 59.2% (EU 60.4%), while ICT specialists account for 5.4% of employment (EU 5.0%). Digital public services score high: 86.4/100 for citizens (EU 84.6) and 90.0/100 for businesses (EU 88.6).
Portugal allocates 21.5% of its recovery and resilience plan (EUR 4.7 billion) and EUR 2.3 billion from cohesion policy to digital. It participates in several European Digital Infrastructure Consortium projects, including Local Digital Twins towards the CitiVERSE EDIC, EUROPEUM EDIC, IPCEI-ME/CT, EuroHPC JU, and Chips JU.
The Commission recommends Portugal accelerate 5G rollout in rural areas and the 3.4–3.8 GHz band, support AI and cloud take-up among businesses, improve scale-up financing for unicorns, address basic digital skills gaps, enhance cybersecurity and cyberliteracy, foster advanced technology adoption by SMEs, and advance AI in healthcare with investment roadmaps and co-funding.
Portuguese telecom operators face pressure to expand rural 5G coverage, potentially requiring additional investment. SMEs may benefit from targeted support for cloud and AI adoption but could face compliance costs if new programmes require co-funding. The government must balance expiring measures with sustained digital investment, affecting public finances. Citizens stand to gain from improved digital skills and public services, but the digital divide may persist without accelerated rural connectivity.