In 2019, the percentage of total public spending assigned to R&D was 1.24% in Spain and 0.82% in Portugal, both below the EU-27 average.

In Spain and Portugal, the proportion of innovative companies, and the degree to which these collaborate with other companies and organisations, is below the EU-27 average.

While the participation of female PhD holders in Portugal is situated above the EU‑27 average in all fields of knowledge considered, in Spain the participation of female PhD holders is situated below the European average in the fields of art, humanities and social sciences.

Does Portugal attract more talent than Spain? In 2020, the attraction of international talent was situated below the European average (18.7%) in the case of Spain (17.2%) and above the average (29.1%) in that of Portugal.

Portugal, together with Denmark, is an exception within the framework of the EU-27 and has percentages of women scientists and engineers that slightly exceed the European average.

Despite growth in the last 10 years, the relative position of Spain and Portugal, with regard to patent applications, is a long way behind that of countries that are leaders in innovation.

Spain stands at the head of the countries of the EU-27 in the global computation of digital society indicators (connectivity, Internet use, etc). Portugal, however, is situated at the tail end.

The model of governmental support for business R&D differs between Spain and Portugal, with a predominance of direct support in the case of Spain and indirect in that of Portugal.

Spain and Portugal are situated above the European average in percentage of women researchers in all sectors considered, although the lowest participation corresponds to the business sector and the highest, to the governmental sector.

Who publishes most: men or women? The percentage of women that publish in the STEM areas in Spain and Portugal is higher than the European average, which reflects that the proportion of women researchers in the academic sector, in turn, exceeds the European average.

Who invents most: men or women?  The proportion in Spain is one in every five inventors and in Portugal, one in every four. Do they exceed the European average?

Spain is among the leading countries in environmental innovation, while Portugal is in an intermediate position.