LISBON: Portugal’s foreign population is increasing
Photo credit : CC/Filipe Rocha
The number of legally-registered Portuguese residents who were born outside the country rose to 1.04 million in 2023.
Of these, 182,000 came from other European Union countries, while 858,000 were from outside the EU. This does not include the roughly 50,000 Ukrainian refugees who have been granted asylum following the Russian invasion.
According to figures from the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), an unprecedented 329,000 residence permits were issued in 2023, a rise of 130 per cent on 2022.
Again, as with the overall non-Portuguese population, the 38,000 EU applicants were in a minority, while most of the remaining permits went to Portuguese-speaking countries outside Europe.
In 2022, the last year with available figures, 31 per cent of Portugal’s non-EU population came from Brazil, while Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, East Timor and Sao Tome and PrÃncipe accounted for 59 per cent.
The Immigration, Borders and Asylum Service (SEF), forerunner to the AIMA agency which was introduced in October 2023, also revealed that there were 45,265 Britons living in Portugal in 2022.
As the number of immigrants, both legal and illegal, soars, together with those seeking asylum, AIMA is not finding it easy to cope with the influx, Opposition parties maintain.
The Social Democratic Party (PSD) said that breaking up SEF and relocating its employees amongst other official institutions was a mistake.
Queues are lengthening outside AIMA offices and with an estimated 350,000 cases still to be settled and more staff set to leave, the situation can only get worse, a PSD spokesperson said.
Sign up for personalised news
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our
Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Originally from the UK, Linda is based in Valenca and is a reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering local news. Got a news story you want to share?
Then get in touch at [email protected].
Leave a comment Cancel reply
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Comment for robots
Known as the PEOPLE’S PAPER, Euro Weekly News is the leading English language newspaper in Spain. And it’s FREE!
Covering the Costa del Sol, Costa Blanca, Almeria, Axarquia, Mallorca and beyond, EWN supports and inspires the individuals, neighbourhoods, and communities we serve, by delivering news with a social conscience. Whether it’s local news in Spain, UK news or international stories, we are proud to be the voice for the expat communities who now call Spain home.
With around half a million print readers a week and over 1.5 million web views per month, EWN has the biggest readership of any English language newspaper in Spain. The paper prints over 150 news stories a week with many hundreds more on the web – no one else even comes close.
Our publication has won numerous awards over the last 25 years including Best Free Newspaper of the Year (Premios AEEPP), Company of the Year (Costa del Sol Business Awards) and Collaboration with Foreigners honours (Mijas Town Hall). All of this comes at ZERO cost to our readers. All our print and online content always has been and always will be FREE OF CHARGE.
Sign up for personalised news
Subscribe to our Euro Weekly News alerts to get the latest stories into your inbox!
By signing up, you will create a Euro Weekly News account if you don’t already have one. Review our Privacy Policy for more information about our privacy practices.
Close
