Throughout this series based on the most recent OECD report, one idea has become increasingly clear: Portugal has entered a new phase in its economic history. It is no longer just a matter of recovering from crises or correcting structural imbalances. The challenge is now much more ambitious. Turning growth into lasting prosperity.
The next ten years will be decisive. The OECD identifies four major forces that will shape the future of developed economies: demographic aging, climate transition, technological revolution, and geopolitical reorganization. Portugal is not immune to any of them. But for the first time in many decades, it is facing them from a position of stability and credibility.
Recent economic growth, underpinned by investment, employment and the recovery of external confidence, provides a solid foundation. However, growth alone does not guarantee real convergence or structural improvement in living standards. What makes the difference is the quality of this growth.
Productivity will continue to be the main battleground. Without a consistent jump in productivity, Portugal risks being stuck in a model of low wages, limited growth, and social fragility. The answer involves three central pillars: education and qualifications, business innovation, and State efficiency.
The country is already making progress in all of them, but the speed and scale of this transformation needs to be accelerated. The investment in digital skills, the reskilling of the workforce and the connection between universities, research centers and companies will be decisive. At the same time, it is essential to create conditions for more Portuguese companies to grow, innovate and internationalize their products and services.
The OECD is clear in stressing that the most successful economies of the next decade will be those that manage to combine economic growth with social inclusion and environmental sustainability. Portugal has a rare opportunity here. The energy transition, digitalization and green reindustrialization can become drivers of development, creation of qualified employment and strengthening of external competitiveness.
But this future does not happen by inertia. It requires stable political leadership, strong institutions, the ability to execute and a shared vision between the public sector, business, and civil society.
Portugal is no longer just a country in recovery. Today is a country under strategic construction. The difference between a positive cycle and a true structural transformation lies in the ability to take advantage of this moment to correct old weaknesses and lay the foundations of a new model of prosperity.
If it succeeds, the decade that begins could mark the consolidation of Portugal as a modern, resilient, and competitive European economy. Not only growing but converging in a sustainable way with the most advanced countries of the European Union.
And that is, in essence, the real objective of any economic policy: to create a safer, more prosperous, and fairer future for the next generations.
 
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