Data centres are at the heart of the digital economy, providing the infrastructure needed to store, process, and transmit vast amounts of data that underpin everyday digital services. They enable cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), e-commerce, streaming, and essential public services. As digital transformation accelerates worldwide, the role of data centres becomes even more central.
As AI development and adoption expands, so does the demand for computing capacity in AI-ready data centres. AI requires immense computing power for both development and deployment. From automating business processes and enhancing innovation to enabling new business models, AI is expected to deliver substantial productivity gains and economic growth across sectors. However, the development and deployment of AI solutions depend on robust digital infrastructure, especially high-performance, reliable data centres.
The global race to attract and build digital infrastructure is an important economic opportunity for countries that can offer the right conditions for data centre investment. Modern data centres designed to support AI workloads increasingly involve large-scale facilities and significant and expenditure, especially in construction-related activities.
We find that Portugal is well-positioned to become a key hub for data centres in Europe. The country’s strategic location, robust connectivity, competitive electricity prices, access to renewable energy and seawater and skilled workforce make it an attractive destination for data centre development.
The data centre sector can make very significant economic contributions to the GDP and employment in Portugal. Based on a macroeconomic model we find that between 2022 and 2024, the sector supported EUR 311 million in GDP and provided an average of 1,700 full-time jobs per year, including direct, indirect, and induced effects.
However, the sector’s GDP contribution is expected to grow significantly until 2030, as a result of the expansion of the sector. We estimate that between 2025 and 2030 the sector will support between EUR 6.1 and 26.2 billion in GDP and an average number of jobs annually between 13,400 and 48,400, depending on the investment and policy conditions, considering direct, indirect and induced effects arising from data centres’ construction and operation.
Moreover, our research and interviews with a broad range of stakeholders suggests that data centres can support other economic and socioeconomic benefits, including (i) enabling digital transformation across the economy, (ii) supporting the development of tech clusters, (iii) attracting foreign direct investment, (iv) retain and attract skilled talent, and (v) foster regional development and social cohesion.
The actual benefits, including supported GDP and employment, will depend on the growth trajectory of the sector, which will be influenced by investment conditions. To fully realise the sector’s potential, policymakers should focus on ensuring access to advanced technologies, streamlining permitting and regulatory processes, guaranteeing reliable electricity grid access, developing targeted incentives and zones for data centre investments, and promoting broader digital adoption across the economy.
The study was commissioned by Start Campus and is available in English and Portuguese.
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