Oeiras has emerged as Portugal’s top-performing large municipality in the 2026 City Performance Index, finishing ahead of Lisbon and Porto. Located just west of the Portuguese capital, the municipality has established itself as a major business and technology hub, attracting international companies and highly skilled professionals. Yet its economic success comes with a striking contradiction: Oeiras is also one of the most expensive places in Portugal to buy a home.
Published on November 12, 2026, the ranking places Oeiras first among Portugal’s 25 municipalities with more than 100,000 residents. It scored 90.4 points, narrowly beating Lisbon on 89.8 and Maia, near Porto, on 89.1. The index, developed by Portuguese consultancy Nascimento & Lobato, assesses municipal performance across economic, social, financial and environmental indicators.
How Oeiras became one of Portugal’s leading economic hubs
For decades, Oeiras was primarily associated with Lisbon’s suburban expansion. Over time, however, it has developed a substantial economic identity of its own, supported by multinational corporations, research institutions and technology parks that attract professionals from across Portugal and abroad.
Its position in the ranking reflects more than the concentration of businesses within its boundaries. The City Performance Index assesses six areas: economy, people and talent, quality of life, financial health, investment and environment. Oeiras performs particularly well in attracting skilled workers and benefiting from a population with strong academic and technical qualifications.
The municipality’s overall score puts it ahead of several other major Portuguese economic centres. Funchal, the capital of Madeira, ranks fourth with 85.2 points, followed by Porto on 81.5. The results suggest that economic activity alone does not determine how municipalities perform across the index’s broader criteria.
Indeed, Lisbon still outperforms Oeiras in the economy category, as well as in financial health and investment. Oeiras takes the lead in people and talent, quality of life and environment, allowing it to secure the highest overall score.
One of Portugal’s strongest economies, but housing comes at a price
The municipality’s appeal to international businesses and qualified professionals exists alongside an increasingly expensive residential property market. Housing affordability has become a significant concern in Portugal’s most economically dynamic urban areas, and Oeiras illustrates the tension particularly clearly.
According to Portugal’s National Statistics Institute (INE), the median price of homes sold in Oeiras reached €4,704 per square metre in the second quarter of 2026. Only Lisbon, at €5,299 per square metre, and neighbouring Cascais, at €5,200, recorded higher figures among the municipalities highlighted in the comparison.
At that median price, an 80-square-metre apartment would represent approximately €376,000 before purchase taxes and associated costs. This is an illustrative calculation rather than the asking price of a particular property. Actual prices vary depending on the neighbourhood, building condition, proximity to transport and other characteristics.
Oeiras therefore presents a complicated picture for people considering a move to the Lisbon metropolitan area. Its employment opportunities, established business districts and residential amenities are appealing, but purchasing a property can require a substantial financial commitment. The ranking does not establish a direct causal link between the municipality’s economic performance and housing prices, although both contribute to its broader profile.
Why a strong overall ranking does not tell the whole story
Despite leading the national comparison of large municipalities, Oeiras does not dominate every category. Its quality-of-life score is 54.4 points, only modestly above the index’s national reference value of 50.
The municipality achieves stronger results in environment, with 62.7 points, and financial health, with 61.7. Investment is its weakest category, scoring just 43.6 points and falling below the national reference level.
Speaking at a conference organised by Portuguese business publication ECO on November 12, Oeiras mayor Isaltino Morais criticised what he described as insufficient investment from Portugal’s central government. He argued that local businesses and the municipality itself are responsible for most investment in the area, despite Oeiras being a net contributor to the national budget.
The report acknowledges an important limitation in this particular category. Its investment indicators focus mainly on public funding and financial transfers, meaning they do not fully capture private investment and foreign direct investment associated with Oeiras’s technology and business sectors.
That distinction matters when comparing the municipality with Lisbon, which scores higher on investment despite finishing second overall.
What the City Performance Index actually measures
The City Performance Index 2026 is an independent assessment, not an official government designation of Portugal’s best city. Developed by Nascimento & Lobato using publicly available data, it compares the country’s 308 municipalities and includes a separate ranking for the 25 with populations exceeding 100,000.
Its findings depend on the selected indicators and the weight assigned to different categories. A municipality can therefore achieve the highest overall score without leading in economic output, public investment or living standards individually.
For Oeiras, the results highlight a particularly successful combination of corporate activity, professional skills and territorial attractiveness. They also expose the limitations of judging local prosperity through rankings alone.
As one of the Lisbon metropolitan area’s most important economic centres, Oeiras faces a challenge familiar to thriving urban regions: ensuring that economic success is matched by access to housing and opportunities for a wider range of residents.
