Immigration to Portugal
As of December 2023, Portugal had 1,703,848 foreign residents, out of 10,639,726 total, accounting for 16.01% of its population.
In 2024, AIMA reported that, of the 1,543,697 foreign residents believed to be living in Portugal, 865,881 were registered as male, and 677,816 as female. 61.1% of foreign citizens lived in Lisbon, Faro or Setúbal districts: these districts account for 35.1% of the country's population. According to the provisional 2024 estimates of the country's population it means that around 14.36% of those living in Portugal doesn't hold Portuguese citizenship, a share in line with other major European countries such as Spain but above France's or Sweden's share.
As of December 2024, places of origin included: the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Major countries of origin were Brazil, India, Angola, Ukraine, Cape Verde, Nepal, Bangladesh, United Kingdom, Guinea-Bissau, Pakistan, São Tomé and Príncipe, Italy, China, France, Germany and Spain. Brazilians made up the largest group, followed by Indians and Angolans.
The share of children born in Portugal to foreign resident mothers stood at 21.9% in 2023. The share of children born from foreign-born mothers reached 33% in 2024, up from 25% in 2022.Immigration is the only reason that the Portuguese population still grows. Foreigners in Portugal are younger than nationals, as per the 2024 Annual Statistical Report. Immigrants have been proved to be particularly vital to some economic sectors that employ few Portuguese nationals, mainly due to low wages, such as tourism, fisheries, agriculture, catering, and civil construction.
History
Portugal, long a country of emigration, became a country of net immigration, from the last Portuguese overseas territories in India, Africa, and Far East Asia.''Retornados'', return migration and first immigrant communities: 1954–1986
India annexed the Portuguese-ruled Dadra and Nagar Haveli in 1954 and integrated Daman and Diu and Goa in 1961, ending Portuguese colonial rule in India. In 1961, the newly independent state of Benin expelled the small Portuguese garrison that was stationed at the Fort of São João Baptista de Ajudá, which had been a center of Portuguese trade and influence in West Africa.Following these events, white Portuguese settlers, people of mixed Portuguese descent, and others began migrating to Portugal. Moreover, many from the former colonies in India traveled via Karachi, a city hosting an important Goan community. In addition to civilians, the migration included approximately 3,500 Portuguese military officers, who sought to resettle in Portugal. In the first two weeks following the annexation of Goa, around 1,000 people moved to Portugal by air or by boat.
According to a 2017 estimate by Casa de Goa, the Goan association in Portugal, approximately 20,000 people of Goan descent then lived in Portugal. However, other estimates suggest that the community may number as many as 50,000. The overwhelming majority of Goan-Portuguese people natively speak Portuguese and are Catholic, thus facilitating the integration process that peaked in the 1960s and 1970s, following the Indian annexation. Moreover, as the majority came during the 1960s and 1970s, a large proportion of people of Goan descent living in Portugal are second or third generation immigrants, with the overwhelming majority being Portuguese nationals.
While they are a fraction of the Indians in Portugal, Goans are well-adapted. As early as the 19th century, Goans had become members of parliament and, by 1958, 23 university professors and 19 politicians of Goan descent were present in the country. Of the 14 Prime Ministers in Portuguese democratic history, 2 were of Goan descent: Alfredo Nobre da Costa and António Costa. Goans in Portugal are mainly of upper class extraction and work in highly-qualified professions. Later, they were joined by migrants of Goan descent from African colonies, especially Mozambique.
On the other hand, Gujarati speakers from Daman and Diu tended to show lower levels of integration, with a large community found in the Lisbon district of Marvila, where they also have one of the oldest Hindu temples in Portugal. Another centre of Gujarati-speaking Indians can be found in the Lisbon district of Olivais and in the southern areas of Loures, where in 1983 the first Hindu temple in Portugal was built. In particular, Gujarati-speaking people came later with respect to Goan-Portuguese and often lived in marginalised places – including slums – up until the early 2000s.
In the late 1960s, Portugal also saw an influx of people of Portuguese descent relocating from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A major immigrant influx and—to date, the largest wave—started in 1974, when over a million Portuguese citizens from Portugal's African territories immigrated. They are known as retornados — Portuguese settlers and descendants of Portuguese settlers born in former African colonies who relocated to Portugal after independence and in the first half of the 1980s. Due to colonization, white and mestiço people were frowned upon; in many cases, white Luso-Africans experienced racist incidents. In particular, due to the Angolan Civil War, Portuguese in Angola left en masse, often leaving their possessions behind, allowed to exit the country with only 15,000 escudos. Of those leaving Mozambique, many were part of the Indian community along with whites and Blacks. In 2021, 240,499 retornados were still alive and resided in Portugal after having left Africa in the 1970s.In the second half of the 1980s, immigration by people of African descent became noticeable, attracted by Portuguese economic growth and the worsening of conditions in Angola and Mozambique due to continuing civil wars. One of the primary settlement areas for Black communities in Portugal, especially from Cape Verde, were the lands north of Lisbon, Benfica, Amadora, and Odivelas. Starting from the 1970s, clandestine neighborhoods emerged there, often lacking basic services and plagued by crime. From 1993 onwards, with Portugal's slum eradication program, many people were provided with alternative public housing and, despite initial discrimination, found success.
1986–2007
Immigration to Portugal increased after the country's accession to the EU in 1986 and soared in the late 1990s, partly due to human trafficking.After Macau returned to China in 1999, many Macanese moved to Portugal. According to a 1991 survey, 70% of Macanese were planning to emigrate, including 63.5% who planned to move to Portugal. In 1991, 500 Macanese families were living in Lisbon.
Ukrainian migration to Portugal started in the late 1990s, and grew in the early 2000s. Initially, immigrants arrived through both organized and illegal channels, often with Schengen visas.
In 2007, the country hosted around 435,000 foreign residents, excluding naturalised citizens and people of foreign descent. From 1998 to 2006, around 21,000 people were granted citizenship, with more than 60% hailing from Africa, and in particular from Portuguese speaking African countries.
2008–2013
Immigration to Portugal decreased significantly after the 2008 financial crisis. At the same time, emigration increased.Between 2008 and 2013 the unemployment rate rose from 7.6% to 17.1% and 2013 GDP was 7.60% lower than 2007 GDP. Between 2007 and 2013 inflation reached 10.4%, significantly decreasing the purchasing power of Portuguese families. From 2008 to 2013, around 412,000 people left the country. Of those who left the country 5.5% were foreigners and 65.3% of the departing foreigners left permanently. Thus 3.9% of the 2008 population left the country in just 6 years.
Portugal reached its historical population peak–through 2023–in 2009 with 10,573,479 residents: this value decreased to 10,395,121 at the end of 2013, due to the combined effect of increased emigration, decreasing immigration, reduced fertility, and population ageing. Only 140,845 people immigrated to Portugal between 2008 and 2013, a net migration loss of around −271,000. In particular, in 2012 less than 15,000 immigrants permanently settled in Portugal.
In 2007 the Ukrainian community was the second largest foreign community; thereafter declining investment in public projects and improved immigration control prompted many Ukrainians to leave.
As the economic crisis eased and tourism increase along with industrial production, immigration increased again after 2013.
During the given timespan, the number of foreigners in Portugal fell from 446,333 to 388,731, recording a 12.89% loss in eight years. Portugal was particularly hit by the 2008 Global recession. Between 2008 and 2013, Portugal experienced a notable uptick in its unemployment rate, escalating from 7.6% to 17.1%. The GDP in 2013 saw a marked 7.60% decline compared to its 2007 value. During this period, inflation reached 10.35%, substantially eroding the purchasing power of Portuguese households. Of those who were obliged to leave the country, 5.47% or 22,547 people were foreign nationals, and 65.3% of the foreigners doing so left the country permanently. Despite the crisis and the subsequent emigration, one of the main reasons for the reduction in the number of foreigners in Portugal is due to the high number of naturalisations: 179,458 foreigners became Portuguese from January 2008 to December 2015.
2014–2019
Following the recovery of the Portuguese economy starting in 2014, immigration to Portugal increased once again. From 2014 to 2019, emigration decreased by 42.8% while immigration increased by 413%.Between 2013 and 2019, the unemployment rate in Portugal fell from 17.1% to 6.6%, and the 2019 GDP was 14.4% higher than the value recorded for 2013 GDP. The value recorded for 2019 GDP was 5.7% higher than the one recorded in 2007: Portugal officially recovered from the 2008 financial crisis and the troika austerity measures in 2017. Moreover, between 2014 and 2019, the increase in prices was modest, meaning that the Purchasing power of Portuguese families increased significantly.
During these years, almost 573,000 people left the country: despite Portugal's reputation as an economic success story since the 2008 financial crisis, many young, educated workers were more attracted by significantly higher wages in countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland or Germany. On the other hand, the share of those leaving permanently fell to 38.4%, meaning that high-skilled workers were, after 2013, more willing to return after having acquired work experience. As a measure to reverse skill-drain, population decrease, and ageing, the government created measures to attract Portuguese emigrants.
Of those who left the country, 4% were foreigners, including 31.4% who left permanently. This means that although 5.5% of the 2013 population left the country in 6 years, the majority of them – or 61.6% – did so for less than one year. After 2014, the country's population decline rate started to slow. The population still fell – equivalent to the country's population in January 2000 – mostly due to population ageing. On the other hand, by the end of 2019, due to increasing immigration, Portugal's population had recovered the value recorded in 2014.
Around 295,000 people immigrated permanently to Portugal between 2014 and 2019. In particular, 51.1% of those who settled in Portugal in this period did so between 2018 and 2019. The surge in immigration was due to good economic conditions, to the crisis in Brazil and to programs devised during the 2008–2013 crisis aimed at attracting foreign capital: these include the Non-habitual residency (NHR) taxation law, the Portuguese Golden Visa law, and the Sephardi Nationality Act.
The Portuguese government developed successful strategies aiming at calling back Portuguese emigrants and at attracting foreign citizens.
In 2009 a program was introduced that has attracted foreigners, particularly since 2013 – the special tributary regime that grants to certain categories of new residents a flat tax and protects them from double taxation. Many pensioners, especially from Northern European countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Finland and Norway moved to Portugal over this law. Pressure from the countries of origin of the retirees, as well as from the local Portuguese population, the program was drastically changed. Nevertheless, pensioners continued immigrating to enjoy to the high quality of life and Mediterranean climate.The Golden visa law was enacted in 2012. It is an immigrant investor program that granted Portuguese residency to people who invested in properties worth at least €500,000 or created 10 jobs in Portugal. As of September 2023 the program had resulted in 33,142 residence permits granted, of which 38.4% went to investors and 61.6% to their family members. 42.5% of the investors who have benefited from the program came from China, other significant countries include Brazil, the US, Turkey and South Africa. Around 6.5 billion euros were invested in the acquisition of 11,383 real estate properties, but only 23 jobs were created. In addition, around 867 million euros were transferred to Portugal. The lack of new jobs led to the end of program in July 2023.
A last measure that has boosted immigration to Portugal is the law aimed at the descendants of Portuguese Jews expelled in 1496. In 2015 the Portuguese parliament officially acknowledged the expulsion as wrong. To try to make up for the past mistakes, the government passed a law known as "Law of Return". The law aims to right the historic wrongs of the Portuguese Inquisition, which resulted in the expulsion or forced conversion of thousands of Jews from Portugal in the 15th and 16th centuries. The law grants citizenship to descendants of those persecuted Jews who can prove their Sephardic Jewish ancestry and a "connection" to Portugal. Since 2015, more than 262,000 people from 60 countries applied for Portuguese citizenship under the law, of which 75,000 were granted Portuguese passports. According to a 2023 estimate, as many as 15,000 Portuguese-Israelis had immigrated. Doubts arose over the law's implementation after it was revealed that people such as Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich had become Portuguese citizens under the new law. Due to the controversies and the recent judicial investigations, the law ended in December 2024.
2020–
Immigration steadily increased in the 2020s. At the beginning of 2020, 590,348 foreigners lived in the country; their number increased to 781,915 at the end of 2022. The population increased from 5.7% to 7.5% in 3 years. From December 2019 to December 2022, the number of foreigners increased by 32.4%.From 2020 to 2022, some 205,909 people emigrated, continuing the emigration recorded since 2014. This means that 2.0% of the 2019 population left the country in those years, but 60.2% did so temporarily.
In 2023 Portugal was the European Union country with the most emigrants in relative terms. In the prior 20 years,15 per cent of the population emigrated. Portugal had the highest proportion of emigrants in Europe and ranked eighth globally in terms of the percentage of its population who left.
In early 2023, Portugal regularized some 113,000 CPLP citizens residing in the country. By September the number of Portuguese-speaking immigrants who had received an "authorization of residence," valid for one year and automatically renewed for those with a clean criminal record, had reached 151,000, of whom 75% were Brazilians. It was reported that in February 2023 around 300,000 foreigners who lived in Portugal were awaiting regularization due to SEF's inability to process them. By November, the number had reached 700,000.
In July 2023 the Portuguese government sent officials to recruit workers in India, Morocco, Timor-Leste and Cabo Verde.
The Portuguese government introduced, after the 2008 financial crisis, measures aimed at attracting foreign capital. In particular, they offered the Non-habitual residency (NHR) taxation law, the Portuguese Golden Visa law, and the Sephardi Nationality Act. All three programs were eliminated by the end of 2024.The NHR, a scheme offering a flat tax and protection from double taxation for specific categories of people relocating to Portugal, underwent significant changes in 2020. This adjustment was prompted by an influx of pensioners, particularly from Nordic countries, who moved to Portugal to take advantage of a fiscal regime that was superior to their home countries. The Portuguese government ended the 10-year tax incentive regime for non-permanent residents, including digital nomads in 2024. Prime Minister António Costa stated that the regime would persist for current beneficiaries. Costa argued that maintaining different tax levels for non-permanent residents would perpetuate fiscal injustice and inflate the real estate market. As of July 2023, 89,000 foreigners were benefiting from the non-permanent resident tax regime. The Golden Visa program, initiated in 2012, was terminated in October 2023 due to the Mais Habitação program. The decision to end the program, aimed at foreigners purchasing real estate, was driven by escalating housing prices. The law did not impact renewals but ended new permits. The Mais Habitação program, which faced opposition, but was approved in July, included measures such as rent caps and restrictions on property sales to non-residents, leading to public protests.In 2023 the law permitting people of Portuguese-Jewish descent to acquire Portuguese citizenship ended. Since 2013, around 262,000 people had requested to be naturalized due to their Sephardi ancestry; almost half were Israelis. Of these, more than 75,000 acquired Portuguese citizenship. Since the announcement of the end of the law in 2023, around 74,000 people started their applications.
Despite the end of the immigration programs, the number of foreign nationals increased during 2023: by December, the number had increased to 1,045,000 people, a 40% increase since January of the same year with 329,000 residence permits given during 2023. 35% of foreign residents were Brazilians: including Luso-Brazilians and Brazilians awaiting regularization, Brazilian residents were estimated to number 750,000. The increase in the number of foreign nationals created a widespread debate, about whether to restrict or increase immigration.
During the 2024/2025 school year, amongst 83,134 pupils entering the public school system, 10,297 were foreign nationals, representing 12.4%, an increase of 1,160 from 2023/24. In early 2025, more than 140,000 foreign pupils were enrolled. As of 2024 more than 6,000 foreign nurses and doctors worked in Portugal.
Following the 2024 Portuguese legislative elections a right-wing government was formed and, in June 2024, it decided to abolish residence permits based on declarations of interest, a system that previously allowed migrants to regularise their status without a visa. The PSD-CDS government argued that this policy was misguided, contradicting Portugal's Schengen commitments and leading to an exponential rise in residency requests, often exploited by human trafficking and illegal migration networks.
Beginning in 2017, migrants could secure legal status by proving employment, even without a valid visa. A 2019 amendment further enabled regularisation for those with 12 months of social security contributions. The decree claimed that these measures created a strong pull factor, encouraging irregular migration with false promises of legalisation. The new law revoked this mechanism while safeguarding migrants who had already applied. It also addresses issues linked to the reduction of the Immigration and Borders Service and the misallocation of resources. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa promptly ratified the decree, citing the urgent need to resolve thousands of pending residency applications.
The government's strategy formally ended the regime that enabled uncontrolled entry. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro described declarations of interest as an open door to abuse, vowing to curb such policies. Measures included bolstering consular processing in priority countries, transforming the current CPLP mobility visa into a Schengen visa, and creating a Foreigners and Borders Unit within the PSP to monitor migration. The plan also introduced emergency response centres for immigration cases.
Foreign residents
Brazilians are the most numerous foreign nationality. The 484,596 resident Brazilians represent 31.4% of the total foreign population. Other significant immigrant communities are from other countries of the Lusosphere. In 2024, 258,981 residents were from the 6 PALOP countries, in addition to 1,845 people from Timor-Leste.A thriving community of people from the Indian subcontinent numbers 254,177.
A majority of EU citizens are Italian, French, German, Spanish and Romanian.
The listed figures only take into account foreign residents legally living in the country and exclude naturalized foreigners as well as dual citizens. For instance, while according to Portuguese authorities, around 66,000 Cape Verdeans reside in the country, official Cape Verdean figures claim that the number could be as high as 260,000. The discrepancy could be because just since 2008 around 55,000 Cape Verdeans naturalised and children of foreign residents are granted Portuguese citizenship at birth.
Evolution
Community decline was mostly attributable to naturalization. For example, between 2008 and 2016, the Cape Verdean non-citizen population in Portugal decreased by 25,993 while 31,970 naturalized. Other communities declined due other factors such as emigration and negative natural balance. However, this was not the only factor. Between 2008 and 2016 the number of English residents fell by 6,341. Since only 127 Britons naturalized during the period the British community fell by 6,214 people.| Country | 2008 | 2016 | 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 BrazilTransition from SEF to AIMAIn October 2023, Portugal dissolved the Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras and replaced it with the Agência para a Integração, Migrações e Asilo. AIMA inherited a backlog of unresolved immigration cases. Over 327,000 residence permit applications were pending, later increasing to 400,000–460,000 cases in 2025.Foreign nationals who had expired permits remained legally protected, as Portuguese authorities extended their status through 30 June 2025. Before the AIMA transition, biometric appointment outcomes typically took 2-3weeks, while under the new system, delays escalated to 2–3 months. By late 2024, many applicants were reporting waits of 4–12 months, particularly for special categories such as Golden Visa holders. Recognising the scale of the issue, in June 2024, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that AIMA must process cases within 90 working days. To comply, the government allocated approximately €6 million and established a "Mission Structure" that hired over 300 additional staff members and opened around 20 new service centres nationwide, intending to clear the backlog by June 2025. As of early 2025, AIMA had processed over 200,000 pending cases and issued several thousand residence cards. NaturalizationMany immigrants became naturalized citizens: 359,506 people holding foreign nationality and residing in Portugal became citizens from 2008 to 2023, corresponding roughly to 3.4% of total population. However, 1,044,606 foreign citizens were resident in Portugal as of January 2024, accounting for 9.8% of Portugal's population.The number of foreigners from Ukraine, Romania, Moldova and Bulgaria has been dropping since 2011; many became naturalized, respectively: 34,163 Ukrainians, 7,164 Romanians, 19,346 Moldovans and 1,157 Bulgarians from 2008 to 2022. The first 30 countries account for 96.8% of the total.
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