Portugal Construction Industry Report 2024

The "Portugal Construction Market Size, Trends, and Forecasts by Sector - Commercial, Industrial, Infrastructure, Energy and Utilities, Institutional and Residential Market Analysis to 2028 (H2 2024)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.
The Portuguese construction industry is expected to marginally decline by 0.6% in real terms in 2024, owing to high construction costs, coupled with declining building permits and exports. According to the National Statistics Institute (INE), the total number of building permits issued in the country declined by 8.8% year-on-year (YoY) in the first five months of 2024, following an annual decline of 5% in 2023. Meanwhile the value of total merchandise exports also fell by 0.4% YoY during January-May 2024, preceded by an annual decline of 1.1% in 2023.

However, over the forecast period, the construction industry's output is expected to recover and register an annual average growth of 2% between 2025 and 2028, supported by government investments in transport and energy infrastructure projects, coupled with private investments in commercial and housing projects.

Growth will also be supported by the country's transition to a net-zero economy, by accelerating the green transition efforts and reducing fuel dependencies. In March 2024, the European Commission (EC) has approved a EUR350 million ($371 million) funding to support manufacturing companies in Portugal that produce solar panels, batteries, heat pumps, and other renewable energy equipment. The funds released will be granted before the end of 2025 and will be financed through EC's Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF).

Furthermore, the European Investment Bank (EIB) approved a funding of EUR3 billion ($3.2 billion) in June 2024 for the development of the high-speed line between Porto and Lisbon, which has a total estimated cost of EUR6.1 billion ($6.5 billion) and will be developed in two different phases by 2034.

Growth in the long term will be supported by investments in hydrogen production plants. In April 2024, the EC has awarded EUR245 million ($259.7 million) to the MadoquaPower2X (MP2X), a green hydrogen plant in Sines, as a part of its first round of subsidies from its European Hydrogen Bank. The project which is scheduled for completion in 2028 in two different phases, is estimated to cost EUR3 billion ($3.2 billion).