• Admin
• May 08, 2024
• Hardware

Portugal XR Report 2025

The Portugal XR Report 2025 confirms that the national immersive technologies ecosystem has entered a phase of accelerated maturity. The number of organizations active in XR and virtual worlds grew 30% compared to 2024, reaching 282 entities. There is a strong predominance of startups and micro-enterprises, as 63% have fewer than five employees.

Despite this fragmentation, the sector shows clear signs of consolidation: 47% of organizations have dedicated XR teams and 80% operate under B2B models, with Europe representing 96% of the client market. Education remains the main vertical, while art, gaming, and culture are gaining weight on the consumer side.

The report also highlights the advance of technological convergence: XR is increasingly combined with AI, digital twins, and simulation, reflecting the European momentum driven by the Strategy for Virtual Worlds and the upcoming European Virtual Worlds Partnership. Portugal already participates in 46 projects funded by Horizon Europe, securing 33 million euros over the last three years.

The decentralization of the ecosystem is also intensifying. Lisbon continues to lead, but now accounts for less than 50% of the sector, with Porto, Aveiro, and Faro gaining ground — the latter driven by immersive tourism.

Talent needs reinforce the market's direction: XR developers and Unity/WebXR specialists lead the demand, but there is growing urgency for profiles in business, regulation, and ethics, in a context marked by the arrival of generative AI and the implementation of the AI Act in 2026.

The report underscores a critical point: despite the growth, expectations of slow growth prevail for 2025, with 33% of organizations pointing to stagnation and only 22% forecasting increases above 10% — a reflection of economic uncertainty and the concentration of investment in AI.

Even so, the conclusion is optimistic: Portugal combines talent, creativity, and agility to establish itself as a European laboratory for immersive innovation. The market is awakening — and the next digital wave may have XR at the center of the transformation.

You can download it here.