Of the almost 80,000 babies born in 2021 in Portugal, more than 10,000 or about 14%, have foreign mothers, according to a survey released on Sunday by Pordata.
“The proportion has been successively increasing since 2016, reversing the downward trend recorded between 2011 and 2015,” the study published on International Migrants Day said.
According to the document, the entry of more foreigners in Portugal has contributed to the birth rate figures in the country.
After a decrease in the last decade to a minimum of 8.4% of births to foreign mothers in Portugal in 2015, this percentage has always been increasing, and last year there were 10,808 children born to non-Portuguese mothers living in the country, of a total of 79,582 live births.
Since 2011 the country has lost nearly 196,000 people, and 2019 and 2020 were the only years in which there was an increase in population compared to the previous year: 19,300 more compared to 2018 and 75,700 more compared to 2019.
“This population increase was mainly due to the positive migratory balance” is underlined in the study in a reference to the difference between people who immigrated and those who left the country.
In 2021, 51,000 immigrants entered Portugal, and 25,000 emigrants left, resulting in a positive balance for the country of 26,000 people.
Emigration is more pronounced among the most qualified population, with one-third of the people over 15 leaving the country having a higher education degree and 29% having secondary education.
Unlike since 2014, in 2021, more than half (52%) of immigrants “were people who had been born in Portugal coming back to the country”, Pordata stressed.
“The majority of both leavers and entrants to Portugal had Portuguese nationality (95 % among emigrants and 75 % among immigrants),” the study added.
Between 2011 and 2014, more than twice as many people left the country as entered, a trend that began to reverse in 2015 and “since 2019, immigrants represent more than twice as many emigrants”.
(Ana Martins | Lusa.pt)
Source: euractiv.com
