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NCBNational Capability Benchmark
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Challenge the benchmark

Choose a score and give the benchmark a specific reason to reconsider it.

The selected score and confidence are read from the current country file when you submit.

Submissions are public and start as awaiting review. A maintainer can add a response and signature after review.

Capability agenda

Portugal

Generated 2026-08-31

The frame includes 53 countries. Each dimension runs from 0 to 100, with no overall ranking. Confidence sits beside each score. Read the known limits of the data before quoting one.

Open the profile: indicators, values, years and sources

Where Portugal stands

DimensionScoreConfidenceTrend
Anticipation66.80.64+14.3 over 10 years using 5 indicators
Agency71.70.61+9.6 over 10 years using 4 indicators
Coordination91.60.39no trend
Trust36.80.26no trend
Learning57.10.52+4.4 over 10 years using 2 indicators
Experimentation30.30.18+4.1 over 10 years using 2 indicators
Adaptability77.00.47+15.6 over 10 years using 4 indicators
Building33.90.62+0.3 over 10 years using 4 indicators
Shared Purpose76.30.30+1.8 over 10 years using 2 indicators

Score

  • weakNear the floor of the frame. Check the confidence before reading anything into it.0 to 25
  • below middleIn the lower half of the frame.25 to 50
  • above middleIn the upper half of the frame.50 to 75
  • strongNear the top of the frame on this dimension.75 and above

Confidence

  • very thin0.00 to 0.25

    The score rests on one or two indicators. Do not quote it on its own.

  • thin0.25 to 0.45

    A minority of indicators, or evidence old enough to have moved. Read with care.

  • usable0.45 to 0.65

    Enough evidence to compare countries, with known holes.

  • good0.65 and above

    Most indicators observed, recent, from official or intergovernmental sources.

Capability over time

Select a dimension to see how Portugal’s comparable evidence has moved over time. The vertical scale is the current 0–100 comparison frame.

Dimension

Period

Capability position in the current frame0–100
02550751001996200120062011201620212026

Anticipation 1996 → 2026: 10.2 to 52.3 (+42.1) over 30 years using 3 indicators

Historical values use today’s 0–100 frame and a matched basket of indicators. They show movement in the available evidence, not an overall development score. Dated agenda items sit on their own rail and do not change the score. A missing line means the evidence does not support a comparable trend for that dimension.

What to raise

These are the lowest scores with usable evidence. Thin evidence appears below.

Building

33.90.62

How capable is the country of turning plans and knowledge into functioning systems?

Uses 5 observed indicators. +0.3 over 10 years using 4 indicators.

Highest usable scores: Ireland 75.3, Singapore 71.2, China 64.9.

Related deliveries in other countries: Pix instant payment system (Brazil); GOV.BR federal identity and service platform (Brazil); X-Road national data exchange layer (Estonia); Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana bank accounts (India); Electricity supply rebuilt on renewable sources (Uruguay); Plan Ceibal, one connected laptop per child (Uruguay); Sistema Unico de Saude, universal public health system (Brazil); Programa Nacional de Imunizacoes, and its erosion (Brazil); Luz para Todos, rural electrification (Brazil); Bolsa Familia and the single registry behind it (Brazil); Fully electronic national elections (Brazil); Deepwater and pre-salt oil production (Brazil); Seguro Popular, and its abolition (Mexico); Sure Start children's centres, and their erosion (United Kingdom); Grid power, and load shedding (South Africa); Measles elimination, and its erosion (United States); BNDES, the national development bank (Brazil); Casa da Moeda do Brasil, the national mint (Brazil); Housing and Development Board, public housing at scale (Singapore); AFE passenger rail and network contraction (Uruguay); Flamanville 3 EPR, and the erosion of nuclear new-build delivery (France); Phoenix pay system, and its prolonged failure (Canada); Groningen gas system, and its closure after induced earthquakes (Netherlands); DigiD, a shared digital identity rail for public services (Netherlands); Delta Works, a 43-year national flood-defence programme (Netherlands); Betuweroute, a freight railway that missed its operating promise (Netherlands); MijnOverheid, a shared citizen mailbox and data portal (Netherlands); Fyra V250, a high-speed service withdrawn after a failed launch (Netherlands); OVpay, nationwide contactless transit payments (Netherlands); Omgevingswet and the Digital Environment System (Netherlands); Transantiago, an integrated transport reform with rising subsidy dependence (Chile); 4G road concessions, a national infrastructure portfolio (Colombia); Reficar, a refinery modernization with a fiscal-liability finding (Colombia); GIGA School, one learning device per student (Japan); Monju, a fast-breeder programme ended before commercial operation (Japan); Invierte.pe, a national multi-year investment-management system (Peru); Reconstrucción con Cambios, a delayed recovery portfolio (Peru); ICE and a mostly renewable national electricity system (Costa Rica); CCSS universal health-insurance reach (Costa Rica); Metro de Quito, a cross-administration urban rail delivery (Ecuador); Panama Canal expansion and self-financing operations (Panama); Metro de Panamá network operations (Panama); Mi Teleférico urban cable-car network (Bolivia); Industrial lithium carbonate plant below design capacity (Bolivia); Itaipú binational hydropower operations (Paraguay); Metrobús, an unfinished bus rapid transit project (Paraguay); ARSAT-3 satellite programme suspended before launch (Argentina); DPWH national infrastructure delivery and transparency portal (Philippines); Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, a mothballed megaproject (Philippines); Trans-Sumatra toll-road programme, still short of its planned network (Indonesia); National expressway build-out in 2024 (Vietnam); Cat Linh–Ha Dong metro, a delayed and over-budget delivery (Vietnam); MRT Putrajaya Line (Malaysia); Kuala Lumpur–Singapore high-speed rail, terminated before construction (Malaysia); Hopewell elevated road-and-rail concession, and its termination (Thailand); AVE high-speed rail network (Spain); Castor underground gas storage, and its closure (Spain); Ostrołęka C coal block, and its abandonment (Poland); Nya Karolinska Solna public–private hospital project (Sweden); Barsebäck nuclear plant closure and decommissioning (Sweden); New Children's Hospital cost escalation (Ireland); Rural electrification and near-universal grid coverage (Nicaragua); Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela's five-million-home milestone (Venezuela).

Missing indicators: Large project delivery, Firm scale-up rate.

Rejected datasets: Logistics infrastructure quality.

What to measure first

The evidence is too thin to manage these dimensions confidently.

What to keep watching

These scores are at least 50 with usable evidence. They still need watching.

DimensionScoreConfidence
Adaptability77.00.47
Agency71.70.61
Anticipation66.80.64
Learning57.10.52

Missing data

25 requested indicators have no comparable dataset. Each lowers confidence. A gap can become an indicator when a comparable series covers at least two countries.

DimensionMissing indicatorWhat it asks
AnticipationGovernment foresight capacityExistence, mandate and continuity of a national strategic foresight function.
AnticipationLong-horizon research shareShare of gross R&D expenditure classified as basic research.
AgencyAdult digital skillsShare of adults who can perform standard digital tasks.
AgencyPerceived control over lifeSelf-reported freedom of choice and control over the course of one’s life.
CoordinationUniversity-industry collaborationIntensity of research collaboration between universities and firms.
CoordinationPublic-private collaborationFrequency and scale of joint public-private delivery of national objectives.
TrustTrust in public institutionsConfidence in national government, courts and civil service.
TrustCooperation beyond the in-groupReported trust in people met for the first time and in people of another nationality.
TrustCourt case clearance rateCivil and commercial cases resolved in a year as a share of cases filed in the same year.
LearningAdult learning participationShare of adults in formal or non-formal education and training in the last 12 months.
LearningResearch citation impactField-normalised citation impact of national research output.
ExperimentationVenture capital investmentVenture capital deployed as a share of GDP.
ExperimentationRegulatory sandbox activityNumber and breadth of live regulatory sandboxes and controlled trial regimes.
ExperimentationUniversity spinoutsCompanies formed to commercialise university research, per million people.
ExperimentationBusiness share of R&DShare of gross R&D expenditure performed by business enterprises.
AdaptabilityLong-term unemployment shareUnemployed for 12 months or more, as a share of total unemployment.
AdaptabilityExport diversificationInverse concentration of the export basket by product.
AdaptabilityDisaster preparedness and recoveryDemonstrated capacity to prepare for and recover from major shocks.
AdaptabilityInstitutional responsivenessSpeed at which rules and public programmes are changed in response to new conditions.
BuildingLarge project deliveryCost and schedule performance of major public infrastructure projects.
BuildingFirm scale-up rateShare of young firms reaching significant employment or turnover thresholds.
Shared PurposeSense of national belongingReported pride in and identification with the national community.
Shared PurposeVolunteeringShare of adults who volunteered time to an organisation in the last month.
Shared PurposePolitical polarisationDegree to which political differences run along a single hostile divide.
Shared PurposeCivic participationActive membership in associations, unions, parties and community organisations.

What the indicators miss about Portugal

Documented deliveries linked to missing indicators. They do not affect scores or confidence.

  • Chave Móvel Digital and Portugal's digital identity layer (Adaptability)

    Portugal's digital-government platform reported 4.4 million active Chave Móvel Digital credentials and 141 million authentications by 23 October 2025, with 490 entities using Autenticação.gov.

  • Portugal's CoLAB applied-research network (Coordination)

    Portugal's Agência Nacional de Inovação reported 41 recognized Collaborative Laboratories (CoLABs), and its 2024 innovation report recorded 639 highly qualified staff contracted by CoLABs, 32 percent of them PhDs.

  • Programa Qualifica and Portugal's adult-learning network (Learning)

    Portugal's ANQEP reported 1,025,569 cumulative Qualifica registrations by December 2023; 90 percent received a training or recognition, validation and certification referral, and 510,113 registrants obtained some certification.

  • Portugal Ventures, a public venture-capital bridge (Experimentation)

    Portugal Ventures, the public venture-capital company in the Banco Português de Fomento group, reports €233.2 million invested in 256 new companies since 2012 and €283 million under management.

  • Novas Oportunidades, and the qualification-policy interruption (Learning)

    ANQEP's national review records 1,568,490 adult enrolments in Novas Oportunidades between 2006 and July 2011; after the initiative's peak and a period of disinvestment, Portugal launched Qualifica in 2017 and rebuilt a network of more than 300 Centros Qualifica.

Contribute

Fill a gap, file evidence or challenge an indicator at github.com/envisioning/national-capability-benchmark. The docs explain the method and decisions.