Demographics of Portugal

Demographic features of the population of Portugal include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Demographics of Portugal
Population pyramid of Portugal as of 2023
Population	10,639,726 (2023)
Growth rate	1.2% (2023)
Birth rate	8.1 births/1,000 population (2023)
Death rate	11.1 deaths/1,000 population (2023)
Life expectancy	82.5 years (2023)[1]
• male	79.5 years (2023)
• female	85.3 years (2023)
Fertility rate	1.44 children (2023)
Infant mortality rate	2.5 deaths/1,000 live births (2023)
Net migration rate	14.7 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023)
Age structure
0–14 years	12.8% (2023)
15–64 years	63.1% (2023)
65 and over	24.1% (2023)
Sex ratio
Total	0.9 male(s)/female (2022)
At birth	1.05 male(s)/female (2022)
Nationality
Nationality	Portuguese citizen
Major ethnic	Portuguese
Minor ethnic	Afro-Portuguese Others
Language
Official	Portuguese
Spoken	Languages of Portugal

As of 2023, Portugal had an estimated population of 10,639,726 inhabitants.^[2] Its population density, at 115.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (299/sq mi), is slightly higher than that of most EU countries, moderately surpassing the EU average of 105.4 inhabitants per square kilometre (273/sq mi).^[3][4] However, the distribution of the population is widely uneven; the most densely populated areas are the Lisbon metropolitan area (which contains well above a quarter of the country's population), the metropolitan areas of Porto and the Atlantic coast, while other vast areas are very sparsely populated, like the plateaus of Alentejo, the Trás-os-Montes and Serra da Estrela highlands, and the lesser islands of the Azores archipelago.

The population of the country almost doubled during the twentieth century (+91%), but the pattern of growth was extremely uneven due to large-scale internal migration from the rural North to the industrial cities of Lisbon and Porto, a phenomenon which happened as a consequence of the robust economic growth and structural modernisation, owing to a liberalisation of the economy of the 1960s.

High fertility and birth rates persisted until the 1980s, after which they started to dramatically decline, leading to rapid population aging. At the end of the first decade of the 21st century, almost one in five Portuguese was over 65 years old.^[5] Lately, Portugal has been experiencing a short growth in birth rates. The total fertility rate has climbed from an all-time low of 1.21 children per woman in 2013 to 1.43 in 2022, still well below replacement level.

Due to decrease in emigration and increase in immigration in the late 1990s and early 2000s the total population reached its peak in December 2009, standing at 10,573,479. Since then, due to the 2008 financial crisis, immigration (that was- in some years - surpassed by emigration) could not offset a shrinking population size, mainly due to the low birthrate but, also due to aging, the rising mortality. After having decreased by 2.27% by 2018, the total population of Portugal started to grow again, mainly sustained by growing immigration and slightly increasing birth rates.^[6][7] By 2023, the total population had already surpassed the 2009 peak.

Portugal is a fairly linguistically and religiously homogeneous country. Ethnically, the Portuguese people form a big majority of the total population in Portugal. The Portuguese people are mainly a combination of ancient paleolithic populations, and the proto-Celtic, Celtic, and the para-Celtic Lusitanians. Some other groups, like the Romans, Germanic (Visigoths, Suevi, Buri, Alans and Vandals) and later the Moorish (Arabs and Berber), Sephardic Jewish, and the French also passed through the country.

Today, Brazilians, Britons, Indians, Italians, French, Ukrainians, Nepalis and countries members of PALOP (Portuguese-speaking African countries) are the main immigrants and form the major foreign communities in the country.^[8][9]

Portuguese is spoken throughout the country, with only some villages near the northern municipality of Miranda do Douro speaking Mirandese, locally recognised as a co-official language.

Total fertility rate

Total fertility rate from 1850 to 1899

Population pyramid from 1950 to 2020

The total fertility rate is the number of children born per woman. It is based on fairly good data for the entire period. Sources: Our World In Data and Gapminder Foundation.^[10]

Years	1850	1851	1852	1853	1854	1855	1856	1857	1858	1859	1860[10]
Total Fertility Rate in Portugal	4.5	4.47	4.44	4.41	4.38	4.35	4.33	4.3	4.27	4.24	4.21

Years	1861	1862	1863	1864	1865	1866	1867	1868	1869	1870[10]
Total Fertility Rate in Portugal	4.18	4.15	4.12	4.09	4.1	4.11	4.12	4.14	4.15	4.16

Years	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875	1876	1877	1878	1879	1880[10]
Total Fertility Rate in Portugal	4.17	4.18	4.19	4.2	4.21	4.22	4.23	4.24	4.23	4.22

Years	1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889	1890[10]
Total Fertility Rate in Portugal	4.91	4.19	4.18	4.17	4.16	4.15	4.38	4.3	4.38	4.24

Years	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899[10]
Total Fertility Rate in Portugal	4.16	4.06	4.15	3.86	3.9	3.9	3.95	3.93	3.89

^[11]

Vital statistics

Vital statistics since 1900

[12][13] [14][15][16]	Average population (December 31)	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Crude migration change (per 1000)	Total fertility rates[fn 1][10][17][18][19]
1900	5,410,000	165,245	110,330	54,915	30.5	20.3	10.2		3.96
1901	5,460,000	170,773	114,130	56,643	31.3	20.9	10.4	-1.2	4.07
1902	5,490,000	176,029	108,378	67,651	32.0	19.7	12.4	-6.9	4.16
1903	5,560,000	183,138	111,685	71,453	33.0	20.1	12.9	-0.1	4.29
1904	5,600,000	176,726	105,572	71,154	31.6	18.9	12.7	-5.5	4.11
1905	5,660,000	179,746	112,756	66,990	31.8	20.0	11.8	-1.1	4.13
1906	5,690,000	182,920	125,243	57,677	32.1	22.0	10.1	-4.8	4.17
1907	5,730,000	176,417	113,254	63,163	30.7	19.7	11.0	-4.0	3.99
1908	5,790,000	175,268	115,876	59,392	30.3	20.0	10.2	0.3	3.94
1909	5,850,000	174,753	112,421	62,332	29.9	19.2	10.8	-0.3	3.89
1910	5,890,000	186,953	113,161	73,792	31.7	19.2	12.5	-5.7	4.12
1911	5,960,000	230,033	130,900	99,133	38.6	22.0	16.6	-4.7	5.02
1912	5,960,000	207,870	119,578	88,292	34.9	20.1	14.8	-14.8	4.54
1913	5,970,000	193,906	123,054	70,852	32.5	20.6	11.9	-10.2	4.22
1914	5,980,000	188,479	115,526	72,953	31.5	19.3	12.0	-10.3	4.09
1915	5,990,000	195,225	122,513	72,712	32.6	20.5	12.0	-10.3	4.24
1916	6,000,000	192,780	129,389	63,391	32.1	21.6	10.7	-9.0	4.17
1917	6,000,000	188,391	134,082	54,309	31.4	22.3	9.1	-9.1	4.08
1918	6,020,000	178,687	248,978	-70,291	29.7	41.4	-11.6	14.9	3.86
1919	6,020,000	166,162	152,856	13,306	27.6	25.4	2.2	-2.2	3.59
1920	6,040,000	202,908	142,862	60,046	33.6	23.7	9.9	-6.6	4.37
1921	6,070,000	197,022	126,316	70,706	32.4	20.8	11.7	-6.7	4.21
1922	6,170,000	203,727	125,747	77,980	33.1	20.4	12.6	3.9	4.3
1923	6,240,000	207,172	141,775	65,397	33.2	22.7	10.5	0.8	4.32
1924	6,310,000	207,440	126,052	81,388	32.8	20.0	12.8	-1.6	4.26
1925	6,370,000	208,434	117,413	91,021	32.6	18.4	14.3	-4.8	4.24
1926	6,470,000	214,633	127,959	86,674	33.5	19.8	13.4	2.3	4.36
1927	6,550,000	199,399	123,382	76,017	31.0	18.8	11.6	0.8	4.03
1928	6,620,000	211,314	124,088	87,226	31.9	18.7	13.2	-2.5	4.15
1929	6,720,000	200,874	118,824	82,050	29.9	17.7	12.2	2.9	3.89
1930	6,804,000	202,529	116,352	86,177	29.7	17.1	12.7	-0.2	3.86
1931	6,860,000	204,120	115,225	88,895	29.7	16.8	13.0	-4.8	3.86
1932	6,968,000	208,062	118,895	89,167	29.9	17.1	12.8	2.9	3.89
1933	7,057,000	204,315	120,996	83,319	28.9	17.2	11.8	1.0	3.88
1934	7,147,000	203,158	118,539	84,619	28.4	16.6	11.8	1.0	3.74
1935	7,237,000	203,943	123,051	80,892	28.2	17.0	11.2	1.4	3.59
1936	7,326,000	205,615	119,003	86,612	28.1	16.2	11.8	0.5	3.45
1937	7,416,000	198,217	117,291	80,926	26.7	15.8	10.9	1.4	3.39
1938	7,506,000	199,467	115,331	84,136	26.6	15.4	11.2	0.9	3.34
1939	7,595,000	198,888	116,075	82,813	26.2	15.3	10.9	1.0	3.28
1940	7,696,000	187,892	120,486	67,406	24.4	15.7	8.8	4.5	3.22
1941	7,750,000	184,336	134,937	49,399	23.8	17.4	6.4	0.6	3.12
1942	7,810,000	187,503	126,531	60,972	24.0	16.1	7.8	-0.1	3.14
1943	7,890,000	198,101	121,887	76,214	25.1	15.3	9.7	0.5	3.27
1944	7,960,000	201,373	119,275	82,098	25.3	14.8	10.3	-1.4	3.28
1945	8,040,000	209,131	115,596	93,535	26.0	14.2	11.6	-1.5	3.39
1946	8,100,000	205,825	120,800	85,025	25.4	14.9	10.5	-3.0	3.29
1947	8,180,000	200,488	110,437	90,051	24.5	13.5	11.0	-1.1	3.14
1948	8,262,000	220,981	107,576	113,405	26.7	13.0	13.7	-3.7	3.42
1949	8,333,000	212,260	117,499	94,761	25.5	14.1	11.4	-2.8	3.23
1950	8,405,000	205,163	102,798	102,365	24.4	12.2	12.2	-3.6	3.1
1951	8,459,000	207,870	105,473	102,397	24.6	12.5	12.1	-5.7	3.1
1952	8,496,000	211,213	100,486	110,727	24.9	11.8	13.0	-8.6	3.1
1953	8,534,000	202,135	97,460	104,675	23.7	11.4	12.3	-7.8	3.1
1954	8,570,000	197,536	95,088	102,448	23.0	11.1	12.0	-7.8	3.1
1955	8,610,000	209,790	99,472	110,318	24.4	11.6	12.8	-8.1	3.1
1956	8,647,000	202,667	106,919	95,748	23.4	12.4	11.1	-6.8	3.11
1957	8,680,000	211,494	101,784	109,710	24.4	11.7	12.6	-8.8	3.12
1958	8,725,000	212,467	91,891	120,576	24.4	10.5	13.8	-8.6	3.13
1959	8,826,000	213,062	97,754	115,308	24.3	11.1	13.1	-1.5	3.15
1960	8,865,000	213,895	95,009	118,886	23.9	10.6	13.3	8.9	3.16
1961	8,929,000	217,516	99,590	117,926	24.3	11.1	13.2	-6.0	3.18
1962	8,994,000	220,200	96,864	123,336	24.4	10.7	13.7	-6.4	3.18
1963	9,031,000	212,152	98,011	114,141	23.4	10.8	12.6	-8.5	3.19
1964	9,034,000	217,136	96,878	120,258	23.8	10.6	13.2	-12.9	3.19
1965	8,999,000	210,299	95,187	115,112	23.0	10.4	12.6	-16.5	3.18
1966	8,931,000	206,940	100,088	106,852	22.7	11.0	12	-19.6	3.16
1967	8,875,000	202,061	95,816	106,245	22.2	10.5	11.7	-18.0	3.13
1968	8,837,000	194,962	94,661	100,301	21.4	10.4	11.0	-15.3	3.09
1969	8,758,000	189,739	101,088	88,651	20.9	11.1	9.7	-18.6	3.05
1970	8,663,252	180,690	92,854	87,836	20.9	10.7	10.1	-20.9	2.99
1971	8,624,258	181,243	98,355	82,888	21.0	11.4	9.6	-14.1	2.99
1972	8,636,603	174,685	90,025	84,660	20.2	10.4	9.8	-8.4	2.85
1973	8,629,598	172,324	95,239	77,085	20.0	11.0	8.9	-9.7	2.76
1974	8,879,127	171,979	96,837	75,142	19.4	10.9	8.5	20.2	2.69
1975	9,307,815	179,648	97,750	81,898	19.3	10.5	8.8	39.5	2.75
1976	9,403,809	186,712	101,843	84,869	19.9	10.8	9.0	1.3	2.81
1977	9,507,536	181,064	95,917	85,147	19.0	10.1	9.0	2.0	2.68
1978	9,608,959	167,467	96,042	71,425	17.4	10.0	7.4	3.3	2.45
1979	9,713,570	160,311	92,566	67,745	16.5	9.5	7.0	3.9	2.31
1980	9,818,980	158,309	94,794	63,515	16.1	9.7	6.5	4.4	2.25
1981	9,883,670	152,071	95,728	56,343	15.4	9.7	5.7	0.9	2.13
1982	9,939,871	151,002	92,379	58,623	15.2	9.3	5.9	-0.2	2.08
1983	9,975,859	144,296	96,179	48,117	14.5	9.6	4.8	-1.2	1.96
1984	10,016,605	142,783	96,975	45,808	14.3	9.7	4.6	-0.5	1.91
1985	10,030,621	130,450	97,085	33,365	13.0	9.7	3.3	-1.9	1.73
1986	10,034,846	126,715	95,521	31,194	12.6	9.5	3.1	-2.7	1.67
1987	10,025,215	123,179	95,102	28,077	12.3	9.5	2.8	-3.8	1.63
1988	10,014,005	122,093	97,844	24,249	12.2	9.8	2.4	-3.5	1.62
1989	9,995,995	118,483	95,743	22,740	11.9	9.6	2.3	-4.1	1.58
1990	9,970,441	116,321	102,768	13,553	11.7	10.3	1.4	-4.0	1.57
1991	9,950,029	116,299	103,882	12,417	11.7	10.4	1.2	-3.2	1.56
1992	9,954,958	114,924	100,638	14,286	11.5	10.1	1.4	-0.9	1.54
1993	9,974,391	113,960	105,950	8,010	11.4	10.6	0.8	1.2	1.52
1994	10,008,659	109,227	99,232	9,995	10.9	9.9	1.0	2.4	1.45
1995	10,043,693	107,097	103,475	3,622	10.7	10.3	0.4	3.1	1.41
1996	10,084,196	110,261	106,881	3,380	10.9	10.6	0.3	3.7	1.45
1997	10,133,758	112,933	104,778	8,155	11.1	10.3	0.8	4.1	1.47
1998	10,186,634	113,384	106,198	7,186	11.1	10.4	0.7	4.5	1.48
1999	10,249,022	116,002	107,871	8,131	11.3	10.5	0.8	5.3	1.51
2000	10,330,774	120,008	105,364	14,644	11.6	10.2	1.4	6.6	1.55
2001	10,394,669	112,774	105,092	7,682	10.8	10.1	0.7	5.5	1.45
2002	10,444,592	114,383	106,258	8,125	11.0	10.2	0.8	4.0	1.47
2003	10,473,050	112,515	108,795	3,720	10.7	10.4	0.4	2.3	1.44
2004	10,494,672	109,298	102,012	7,286	10.4	9.7	0.7	1.4	1.41
2005	10,511,988	109,399	107,464	1,935	10.4	10.2	0.2	1.4	1.42
2006	10,532,588	105,449	101,990	3,459	10.0	9.7	0.3	1.7	1.38
2007	10,553,339	102,492	103,512	-1,020	9.7	9.8	-0.1	2.1	1.35
2008	10,563,014	104,594	104,280	314	9.9	9.9	0.0	0.8	1.40
2009	10,573,479	99,491	104,434	-4,943	9.4	9.9	-0.5	1.5	1.35
2010	10,572,721	101,381	105,954	-4,573	9.6	10.0	-0.4	0.3	1.39
2011	10,558,950	96,856	102,848	-5,992	9.2	9.8	-0.6	-0.7	1.35
2012	10,503,889	89,841	107,612	-17,771	8.6	10.3	-1.7	-3.5	1.28
2013	10,444,092	82,787	106,554	-23,767	7.9	10.2	-2.3	-3.4	1.21
2014	10,395,121	82,367	104,843	-22,476	7.9	10.1	-2.2	-2.5	1.23
2015	10,368,554	85,500	108,539	-23,039	8.3	10.5	-2.2	-0.4	1.30
2016	10,344,478	87,126	110,573	-23,447	8.5	10.7	-2.3	0	1.36
2017	10,335,770	86,154	109,758	-23,604	8.4	10.7	-2.3	1.5	1.37
2018	10,333,496	87,020	113,051	-26,031	8.5	11.0	-2.5	2.3	1.41
2019	10,375,395	86,579	111,843	-25,264	8.4	10.9	-2.4	6.5	1.42
2020	10,394,297	84,530	123,396	-38,866	8.2	12.0	-3.8	5.6	1.40
2021	10,421,117	79,582	124,841	-45,220	7.7	12.1	-4.4	7.0	1.34
2022	10,516,621	83,671	124,311	-40,640	8.0	11.9	-3.9	8.3	1.42
[20]2023	10,639,726	85,994	118,895	-32,901	8.1	11.1	-3.0	14.7	1.44
2024		[21]84,788	[21]118,975	-34,187

Current vital statistics

^[22]

Period	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase
January - February 2024	13,712	23,047	-9,335
January - February 2025	13,371	22,442	-9,071
Difference	-341 (-2.55%)	-605 (-2.70%)	264

Structure of the population

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	4 920 220	5 422 846	10 343 066	100.00
0–4	218 527	207 185	425 712	4.07
5–9	222 278	210 889	433 167	4.14
10–14	251 339	240 793	492 132	4.70
15–19	266 963	255 595	522 558	4.99
20–24	287 540	273 647	560 887	5.36
25–29	280 721	268 129	548 850	5.24
30–34	287 493	284 268	571 761	5.46
35–39	305 503	314 418	619 921	5.92
40–44	351 485	375 132	726 617	6.94
45–49	392 737	423 651	816 388	7.80
50–54	366 189	400 157	766 346	7.32
55–59	351 700	397 580	749 280	7.16
60–64	339 143	386 682	725 825	6.93
65–69	309 373	359 065	668 438	6.39
70–74	282 050	335 766	617 816	5.90
75–79	215 263	278 986	494 249	4.72
80–84	148 007	211 012	359 019	3.43
85+	125 800	242 600	368 400	3.52
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	692 144	658 867	1 351 011	12.91
15–64	3 272 879	3 335 554	6 608 433	63.13
65+	1 036 788	1 386 851	2 507 922	23.96

Population by Sex and Age Group (Official Census 2021): ^[23]

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	5 083 568	5 556 158	10 639 726	100.00
0–4	221 121	208 651	429 772	4.04
5–9	229 621	218 559	448 180	4.21
10–14	247 542	238 274	485 816	4.57
15–19	269 206	258 900	528 106	4.96
20–24	290 561	280 090	570 651	5.36
25–29	291 928	278 498	570 426	5.36
30–34	300 061	295 770	595 831	5.60
35–39	308 975	316 753	625 728	5.88
40–44	352 038	373 875	725 913	6.82
45–49	394 465	425 996	820 461	7.71
50–54	373 346	409 236	782 582	7.36
55–59	354 591	400 294	754 885	7.09
60–64	344 026	392 774	736 800	6.92
65–69	316 994	368 303	685 297	6.44
70–74	282 121	337 022	619 143	5.82
75–79	225 565	291 354	516 919	4.86
80–84	150 497	213 353	363 850	3.42
85+	130 910	248 456	379 366	3.57
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	698 284	665 484	1 363 768	12.82
15–64	3 279 197	3 432 186	6 711 383	63.08
65+	1 106 087	1 458 488	2 564 575	24.10

Population by Sex and Age Group (Population Estimate 2023): ^[24]

Maps

• 
  Population density by municipality in Portugal (2020).
• 
  Population by municipality in Portugal (2020).
• 
  Population change by municipality in Portugal between 2001 and 2011.
• 
  Population change by municipality in Portugal between 2011 and 2020.

Other demographic statistics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
0	412,924	—
600	367,043	−0.02%
1100	688,207	+0.13%
1400	825,848	+0.06%
1500	1,150,000	+0.33%
1600	1,840,000	+0.47%
1710	2,430,000	+0.25%
1810	3,010,000	+0.21%
1825	3,390,000	+0.80%
1849	3,411,454	+0.03%
1864	4,188,419	+1.38%
1878	4,550,699	+0.59%
1890	5,049,729	+0.87%
1900	5,423,132	+0.72%
1911	5,969,056	+0.88%
1920	6,032,991	+0.12%
1930	6,825,883	+1.24%
1940	7,722,152	+1.24%
1950	8,510,240	+0.98%
1960	8,851,240	+0.39%
1970	8,648,369	−0.23%
1981	9,833,041	+1.17%
1991	9,862,540	+0.03%
2001	10,356,117	+0.49%
2011	10,562,178	+0.20%
2021	10,343,066	−0.21%
2023	10,639,726	+1.42%
Source: INE[25][26][27] OWID[28]

Historical population of Portugal

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[19]

Total population

10,639,726 (2023 official INE estimate)^[27]

Age structure of the resident population

2023 official INE estimate:^[29]

• 0-14 years: 12.82% (male 698,284 /female 665,484)
• 15-64 years: 63.08% (male 3,279,197 /female 3,432,186)
• 65 years and over: 24.10% (male 1,106,087/female 1,458,488)

Median age

• total: 46.8 years (2022 official Eurostat data)^[30][31]
• male: 45.1 years
• female: 48.3 years

Birth rate

8.1 births/1,000 population (2023 official INE estimate)^[32]

Death rate

11.1 deaths/1,000 population (2023 official INE estimate)^[33]

Total fertility rate

1.44 children born/woman (2023 official INE estimate)^[34]

Net migration rate

14.70 net migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 official INE estimate)^[35][36]

Population growth rate

+ 1.17 % (2023 official INE estimate)^[29]

Mother's mean age at first birth

30.2 years (2023 official INE estimate)^[29]

Life expectancy at birth

Period	Life expectancy in Years	Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	60.3	1990–1995	74.9
1955–1960	62.4	1995–2000	76.0
1960–1965	64.5	2000–2005	77.6
1965–1970	66.4	2005–2010	79.3
1970–1975	68.3	2010–2015	80.5
1975–1980	70.4	2015–2020	81.1
1980–1985	72.5	2020–2024	82.6
1985–1990	74.0

Source: UN World Population Prospects^[37]

Infant mortality rate

2022 official INE estimate:^[29]

• total: 2.59 deaths/1,000 live births. Country comparison to the world: 216th
• male: 2.75 deaths/1,000 live births
• female: 2.43 deaths/1,000 live births (2022 official INE estimate)^[38]

Infant mortality rate

Years[39]	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975
Deaths/1,000 live births	77.5	88.8	78.6	73.1	69.0	64.9	64.7	59.2	61.1	55.8	55.5	51.9	41.4	44.8	37.9	38.9
Years	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991
Deaths/1,000 live births	33.4	30.3	29.1	26.0	24.3	21.8	19.8	19.2	16.7	17.8	15.8	14.3	13.0	12.1	10.9	10.8
Years	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Deaths/1,000 live births	9.2	8.6	7.9	7.4	6.8	6.4	6.0	5.6	5.5	5.0	5.0	4.1	3.8	3.5	3.3	3.4
Years	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Deaths/1,000 live births	3.3	3.6	2.5	3.1	3.4	2.9	2.9	2.9	3.2	2.7	3.3	2.9	2.4	2.4	2.6	2.5

Life expectancy in Portugal since 1940

Life expectancy in Portugal since 1960 by gender

Dependency ratios

2022 official INE estimate:^[29]

• total dependency ratio: 58.4
• youth dependency ratio: 20.44
• elderly dependency ratio: 37.96
• potential support ratio: 2.63 (2022 INE estimate)

Urbanization

urban population: 73.38% of total population (2020 official INE estimate^[40])

rate of urbanization: 0.44% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Sex ratio

2022 official INE estimate:

• at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female^[41]
• under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female^[42]
• 15–64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female
• 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female
• total population: 0.90 male(s)/female^[43]

Employment and income

Unemployment, youth ages 15–24

total: 23.1%. Country comparison to the world: 66th

male: 20.6%

female: 26.2% (2021 est.)

Urban organization

Metropolitan areas and agglomerations

The 25 most and the 25 least populated municipalities of Portugal. The metropolitan areas of Lisbon, Porto and Minho are visible.

As of 2023, Portugal had two significant agglomerations: the political metropolitan areas of Lisbon and Porto – Grande Área Metropolitana de Lisboa (3.0 million) and Grande Área Metropolitana do Porto (1.8 million). Together they host 44.77% of the total population.^[44]

Image	City	Metropolitan area	Core municipality
	Lisbon	2,961,177	567,131
	Porto	1,802,664	248,769

Largest urban areas

When considering the number of inhabitants in consistent single urban areas, de facto cities in mainland Portugal, per the new with increased density of human-created structures, and excluding suburban and rural areas, Portugal has two cities with about one million inhabitants each (Lisbon and Porto), ten others with more than 50,000 inhabitants and 14 cities with populations between 20,000 and 40,000 inhabitants.^[45]

• 
  1.Lisbon and surroundings
  3 million inh. ca.
  Greater Lisbon
• 
  2.Porto and surroundings
  2 million inh. ca.
  Greater Porto
• 
  3.Braga
  202,000 inh.
  
• 
  4.Guimarães
  157,000 inh.
• 
  5.Coimbra
  145,000 inh.
• 
  6. Vila Nova de Famalicão
  136,000 inh.
• 
  7. Leiria
  134,000 inh.
• 
  8. Barcelos
  117,000 inh.
• 
  9.Funchal
  108,000 inh.
• 
  10.Viseu
  102,000 inh.

Largest cities

Portugal has 151 localities with national city status (cidade). Every city is included into a municipality (município). This is a list of population by city, which means that it refers to the number of inhabitants in the city proper, excluding inhabitants from the same municipality but living outside the urban area of the city in other civil parishes (freguesias) of the municipality. In some cases (e.g. Lisbon), the entire municipality and the city proper cover the same territory.^[46][47][48]

Population density of Portugal in 2021, per km²:

  0-49

  50-99

  100-499

  500-999

  1000-1999

  2000+

Rank	City name	Population	Metropolitan area	Subregion
1	Lisbon	548,703	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon	Grande Lisboa
2	Porto	240,592	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto	Grande Porto
3	Vila Nova de Gaia	188,443	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto	Grande Porto
4	Amadora	174,511	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon	Grande Lisboa
5	Braga	148,977	Greater Metropolitan Area of Minho	Cávado
6	Coimbra	106,655	Greater Metropolitan Area of Coimbra	Baixo Mondego
7	Funchal	106,429		Madeira
8	Setúbal	98,470	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon	Península de Setúbal
9	Almada	88,202	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon	Península de Setúbal
10	Agualva-Cacém	81,006	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon	Grande Lisboa
11	Queluz	73,047	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon	Grande Lisboa
12	Rio Tinto	65,469	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto	Grande Porto
13	Barreiro	62,860	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon	Península de Setúbal
14	Aveiro	62,130		Baixo Vouga
15	Viseu	60,570		Dão-Lafões
16	Odivelas	58,170	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon	Grande Lisboa
17	Guimarães	54,750		Ave
18	Leiria	54,540		Pinhal Litoral
19	Faro	49,360		Algarve
20	Matosinhos	49,034	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto	Grande Porto
21	Loures	46,246	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon	Grande Lisboa
22	Portimão	43,810		Algarve
23	Póvoa de Varzim	41,206	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto	Grande Porto
24	Amora	41,140	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon	Península de Setúbal
25	Maia	40,534	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto	Grande Porto
26	Évora	40,373		Alentejo Central
27	Montijo	40,130	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon	Península de Setúbal
28	Ponta Delgada	40,050		Açores
29	Santa Maria da Feira	39,576	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto	Entre Douro e Vouga
30	Ermesinde	38,570	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto	Grande Porto

Largest municipalities by population

The following table lists the largest Portuguese municipalities by population as of 2023. The land area is expressed in km² and only municipalities with populations of over 100,000 inhabitants are listed.^[3] The 26 listed municipalities account for 46.10% of the country's population and for only 5.14% of its total land area.^[49]

View of residential building in Amadora, one of the most densely populated municipalities in Portugal and more densely populated than Hong Kong

Rank	Municipality	Population	Land Area	Density	Metropolitan area
1	Lisbon	567,131	100.05	5,668.5	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon
2	Sintra	395,528	319.23	1,239.0	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon
3	Vila Nova de Gaia	311,223	168.46	1,847.5	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto
4	Porto	248,769	41.42	6,006.0	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto
5	Cascais	219,636	97.40	2,255.0	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon
6	Loures	207,065	167.24	1,238.1	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon
7	Braga	201,583	183.40	1,099.1
8	Almada	181,232	70.21	2,581.3	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon
9	Matosinhos	179,558	62.42	2,876.6	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto
10	Amadora	178,253	23.78	7,495.9	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon
11	Oeiras	175,677	45.88	3,829.1	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon
12	Seixal	173,163	95.50	1,813.2	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon
13	Gondomar	168,582	131.86	1,278.5	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto
14	Guimarães	156,789	240.95	650.7
15	Odivelas	153,708	26.54	5,791.6	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon
16	Coimbra	144,822	319.40	453.4
17	Maia	142,594	82.99	1,718.2	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto
18	Santa Maria da Feira	139,837	215.88	647.8	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto
19	Vila Franca de Xira	139,452	318.19	438.3	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon
20	Vila Nova de Famalicão	135,994	201.59	674.6
21	Leiria	133,795	565.09	236.8
22	Setúbal	123,548	230.33	536.4	Greater Metropolitan Area of Lisbon
23	Barcelos	117,005	378.90	308.8
24	Funchal	107,562	76.14	1,412.7
25	Viseu	101,977	507.10	201.1
26	Valongo	100,166	75.12	1,333.4	Greater Metropolitan Area of Porto

People

Main article: Portuguese people

Nationality

noun: Portuguese (singular and plural)

adjective: Portuguese

Immigration

Main article: Immigration to Portugal

Portuguese and foreign born population pyramid in 2021

In 1992, 1.3% of the population was foreign, by 2023 the number had grown to more than 12% or 1,293,463 people.^[50]

Since the independence of the former African colonies, Portugal saw a steady immigration from Africa, most notably Cape Verde, Angola and Guinea-Bissau, but also São Tomé and Príncipe, Mozambique and former Portuguese India in Asia.

Portugal saw migration waves due to labor shortages since 1999, first from Eastern Europe (1999–2002), in two distinctive groups, a Slav (Ukraine, Russia and Bulgaria) and an East Latin (Romania and Moldova), that stopped and started declining as the labour market became saturated.

Since 2003, most of the immigrants came from Brazil, China and the Indian subcontinent. Family reunification was seen as important for a successful integration in the country, thus the government eased it, and in 2006, more than 6 in 10 new immigrants were family members of legal foreign residents in the country.^[51]

There is also a significant number of elderly Western European residents in search of quality of life, namely from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

More recently, there is significant migration from the former Portuguese colony of Brazil, as since 2017 more than 30,000 Brazilians immigrate to Portugal annually.

Below is a summary table of the main foreign nationalities present in Portugal according to the latest AIMA data.^[50] As of December 31, 2023, there were 1,293,463 legally resident people in Portugal with foreign citizenship (12.16% of the population), with preliminary figures suggesting an increase to 1,546,521 by 2024.^[50] These include both citizens born in Portugal with foreign citizenship and foreign immigrants. Descendants of immigrants are excluded (Portugal, like many European countries, does not collect data on ethnicity) and those who, regardless of place of birth or citizenship at birth, were Portuguese citizens (see also Portuguese nationality law). Among the latter are also naturalized citizens whose data are reported in the next table.

Biggest foreign nationality by district.

Largest groups of foreign residents as of 01.01.2024

Nationality	Population[50]
Brazil	368,449
Angola	55,589
Cape Verde	48,885
United Kingdom	47,409
India	44,051
Italy	36,227
Guinea-Bissau	32,535
Nepal	29,972
China	27,873
France	27,549
São Tomé and Príncipe	26,460
Bangladesh	25,666
Ukraine	23,499
Germany	22,858
Romania	20,881
Spain	20,573
Pakistan	17,148
United States of America	14,126
Netherlands	13,592
Russia	10,901
Other countries (below 10,000)	130,363

Foreign-born naturalised citizens in Portugal by 2020.

Below is a summary table of Portuguese citizenship acquisitions by foreigners residing in the country recorded between 2008 and 2022 for countries having recorded at least 1,000 naturalizations during the given timespan. During this period, 342,458 people (3.27% of the current Portuguese population) obtained Portuguese citizenship according to the latest Eurostat data. These people are not counted among foreigners (see above table) as they are Portuguese citizens in all respects.^[52]

Nationality	Acquisitions of Citizenship (2008–2022)[53][54]
Brazil	89,713
Cape Verde	55,109
Ukraine	32,722
Guinea-Bissau	27,043
Angola	25,805
Moldova	19,212
São Tomé and Príncipe	14,990
India	12,202
Romania	6,922
Nepal	6,473
Russia	5,540
Pakistan	5,288
Other countries (below 5,000)	41,439

Net migration

Portugal Net migration by region^[55]

Year	Portugal	Mainland	Azores	Madeira
2011	-25,178	-22,661	-821	-1,696
2012	-37,290	-34,127	-955	-2,208
2013	-36,029	-32,739	-985	-2,305
2014	-26,495	-21,293	-2,066	-3,136
2015	-3,528	476	-1,573	-2,431
2016	-629	2,222	-1,400	-1,451
2017	14,896	16,695	-1,117	-682
2018	23,757	24,720	-1,094	131
2019	67,163	66,634	-575	1,104
2020	57,768	54,889	839	2,040
2021	72,040	68,616	1,500	1,924
2022	136,144	131,449	1,973	2,722
2023	155,701	150,882	1,227	3,592

Ethnic minorities and persons with disabilities

See also: Immigration to Portugal, Racism in Portugal, and Romani people in Portugal

Portugal does not collect ethnicity or racial data of its population.^[56]

Anti-racism laws prohibit and penalize racial discrimination in housing, business, and health services.

Discrimination against persons with disabilities in employment, education, access to health care, or the provision of other state services is illegal. The law mandates access to public buildings and to newly built private buildings for such persons.

Languages

Main article: Portuguese language

Map of Portuguese language dialects in Portugal.

The main language spoken as first language by the overwhelming majority of the population is Portuguese.^[57] Other autochthonous languages spoken include:

• Caló (see also Caló language), the language of the Portuguese-Romani community. There are about 52,000 Romani people in Portugal.^[58]
• Mirandês (see also Mirandese language), officially recognised as an official language.^[59] It enjoys special protection in the area of Miranda do Douro. As of today, there are about 15,000 people who speak the language (0.14%).^[60][61][62]
• Barranquenhu (see also Barranquenho), spoken in the town of Barrancos (in the border between Extremadura, Andalusia and Portugal). As of today, there are about 3,000 speakers of the language (0.03%).^[63]
• Minderico – a sociolect or argot spoken in Minde, practically extinct. There are about 150 speakers left^[64][65]
• Portuguese Sign Language, the official language for the deaf community in Portugal. There are about 30,000 deaf people (0.29%) in Portugal who use the language.^[66] Interestingly, the first teacher of deaf-mutes in France was Portuguese-Jew Jacob Rodrigues Pereira.

Religion

Main articles: Religion in Portugal, Lusitanian Catholic Apostolic Evangelical Church, and Our Lady of Fátima

Religion in Portugal (Census 2021)^[67]

1. Roman Catholicism (80.2%)
2. Protestantism (2.1%)
3. Jehovah's Witnesses (0.7%)
4. Eastern Orthodoxy (0.7%)
5. Other Christian (1%)
6. Islam (0.4%)
7. Hinduism (0.2%)
8. Buddhism (0.2%)
9. Judaism (0.03%)
10. Other religion (0.3%)
11. No religion (14.1%)

The great majority of the Portuguese population belongs to the Roman Catholic Church. Religious observance remains strong in northern areas, while the population of Lisbon and southern areas are generally less devout.

Religious minorities include a little over 400,000 Protestants and Mormons^[68][69][70] (3.84% of the total population).

There are also about 100,000 Muslims^[71] (1%) and 45,000 Hindus^[72][73][74] (0.43%), most of whom came from Goa, a former Portuguese colony on the west coast of India (Some Muslims also came from former two Portuguese African colonies with important Muslim minorities: Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique).

There are also about 1,500 Jews,^[75] 2,000 Baha'i^[76] and 35,000 Sikh^[72] (0.34%)

Portugal is also home to about 17,000 Buddhists,^[77] mostly Chinese from Macau and a few Indians from Goa.

Portugal is still one of the most religious countries in Europe, most Portuguese believe with certainty in the Existence of God and religion plays an important role in the life of most Portuguese.^[78][79] According to the Pew Research Center, 40% of Portuguese Catholics pray daily.^[80]

Religious map of Portuguese municipalities

Religion by municipality according with the 2021 Census.

Percentage of Catholics by municipality.

Percentage of Other Christians by municipality.

Percentage of Other religions (Non-Christians) by municipality.

Percentage of non religious by municipality.

Education

Carolina Michaelis highschool in Cedofeita

Literacy

definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2021 official INE estimate)^[81]

total population: 96.92%

male: 97.90%

female: 96.04%

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)

total: 17 years

male: 17 years

female: 17 years (2020)

See also

• Portugal census [pt]
• Portugal

Notes

1. In fertility rates, 2.1 and above is a stable population and has been marked blue, 2 and below leads to an aging population and the result is that the population decreases.