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80 // iberian.propery / 2017
dossier// ISSUE: TOP IBERIAN cities
OPorto:
an increasingly
competitive
and innovative
economy
The city of Oporto is the principal economic,
university and cultural centre of Portugal’s northern
region, and the central hub in a metropolitan
area of significant size on a European scale.
Occupying a central position for the
country’s competitiveness and interna-
tionalisation, Oporto is now beginning
to see its
«charms»
discovered by an
increasingly large international audience,
which is confirmed by the rising indica-
tors of demand for tourism and foreign
investment in the city.
2.040 km² (Metropolitan Area), of which
45 km² correspond to the city of Porto
1.752 million inhabitants (Metropolitan Area)
/ 240.000 residents in the city of Porto
It is the only MEGA (Metropolitan European
Growth Areas) in the north-eastern Iberian
Peninsula
120 minutes from Galicia (Spain)
180 minutes from Lisbon
3.8 million consumers within a 90-minute
driving distance / 5.5 million within a
120-minute driving distance
Airport located 11 km from the city centre,
with regular flights to approximately 80
destinations, registering about 9.4 million
passengers in traffic in 2016.
National leader in Ro-Ro traffic, the Leixões
Port is one of the largest ports operating on
the Iberian Peninsula and Atlantic Coast: it
handles more that 18 million tons of cargo/
year and represents approximately 20% of
Portuguese exports (to 180 countries). The
port’s new cruise terminal received 84 calls
and almost 72.000 passengers in 2016.
3rd Best City for investment in Southern
Europe according to ranking by the Financial
Times (2014/15)
More than 40 higher education institutions,
attracting students and researchers from all
over the world
72.000 university students enrolled (2015/16
Porto) and more than 17.000 graduates each
year (500 of which at the doctoral level in
2014/15)
The investment in R&D as a proportion of GDP
increased from 0.84% in 2003 to 2.01% in 2012
A safe city to live and do business in, situated
in the 5th most peaceful country in the world
(Institute for Economics and Peace)
Voted Best European Destination in 2012,
2014 and 2017