Portugal attracted more investment last year than the 1 billion euros (about US$1.11 billion) worth the government aimed to attract, Eco News reports.

The Portuguese financial news website quotes Portuguese Secretary of State for Internationalisation Eurico Brilhante Dias as saying the money is being put into 80 projects in 15 industries, and that three quarters of the projects are financed by foreign money from 15 countries.

Mr Dias said 15 investments, together worth over 200 million euros, were in the automotive industry.

The report says the biggest foreign investors in Portugal last year were the Germans, the French and the Spanish, the Germans alone investing 150 million euros.

The year before, Portugal also attracted investment worth over 1 billion euros, which was put into 52 projects, Eco News says.