The data center sector will contribute 3.7 billion euros to Portugal’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2031, according to a study by Portugal DC with Pb7 Research.
According to the document released today, entitled Data Centers Market Outlook – 2025, it is predicted that “the sector’s contribution to GDP will increase from 160 million euros recorded in 2024 to 3.7 billion euros in 2031”.
In terms of jobs, the data center sector is already responsible for 2,800 direct and indirect jobs. However, the forecast is that they will contribute around 9,400 jobs by 2031.
Regarding investment, the study anticipates accumulated investments of around 13 billion euros until 2031, covering “both greenfield development and remodeling, especially in the areas of Lisbon, Sines and other emerging regions”.
“Almost all installations are supported by electrical energy and increasingly use energy from renewable sources, thanks to the supply of green energy available to the country”, the document reads.
However, the increase in energy consumption, “which is expected to reach 8.5 TWh by 2031, requires careful planning to avoid future congestion in the electricity grid and ensure sustainable growth”.
Total energy supply for information technologies (IT) is also expected to grow more than 40 times, reaching 1.5 GW.
The availability of renewable energy and land in Portugal “makes the country especially attractive” for the type of operations, “especially when compared to the congested centers of Northern Europe”.
“Campuses with high energy capacity in the order of gigawatts, such as the Start Campus in Sines, represent the new wave of data infrastructure”, it reads.
With Portugal’s “privileged” geographical location on the Atlantic coast, combined with dense fiber optic networks and submarine cable infrastructure, the country positions itself as “a unique ‘digital gateway’, with the capacity to connect Europe to the Americas, Africa and Asia”.
The study arises from “extensive documentary research to create a solid database on ‘data centers’, allowing the identification of the main trends and developments in the sector”.
This base served as “a starting point for the creation of models that quantify the ‘data center’ market and its social and economic impact”.
The work will be published in a book that will be publicly presented on October 23, in Lisbon, at the Portugal Digital Summit.