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 (56.1%), and 677,816 as female (43.9%). 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 (10,749,635) 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 (36.0%), Europe (23.2%), Africa (20.4%), Asia (20.2%), and Oceania (0.1%). 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 (484,596), followed by Indians (98,616) and Angolans (92,348).
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 (until 1961), Africa (until 1975), and Far East Asia (until 1999).
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 (about 16%) of the Indians in Portugal, Goans are well-adapted. As early as the 19th century, Goans had become members of parliament (e.g. Francisco Gomes) 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 Lisbon metropolitan area, where they also have one of the oldest Hindu temples in Portugal. Another centre of Gujarati-speaking Indians can be found in the Lisbon metropolitan area, 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 (mostly from Angola and Mozambique) immigrated. They are known as retornados (meaning "those who came back") — Portuguese settlers and descendants of Portuguese (or other Europeans such as Germans or Italians) 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 ( €2,929 in 2025). 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 on the northern side of the Lisbon metropolitan area. Starting from the 1970s, clandestine neighborhoods (bairros clandestinos) 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 (51% permanently). Of those who left the country 5.5% (22,547 people) 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 (−1.7%) 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 (3.5% inflation), 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.Victoria Waldersee (15 October 2019), Portugal amends returnee program in bid to attract more citizens home Reuters. 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% (22,685 people) were foreigners, including 31.4% who left permanently. This means that although 5.5% of the 2013 population left the country in 6 years (2014–2019), 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 (to 10,333,496 people in 2018) – 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 10,395,000).