For the first time in 10 years, the Portuguese population has increased 0.19 percent in 2019, compared to 2018, thanks to immigration, the National Statistics Institute (INE) reported today.
On the 31st of December 2019, the resident population in Portugal was estimated at 10,295,909 persons, 19,292 more than in 2018.
In 2019, half of the people residing in Portugal were over 45.5 years old, which represents an increase of 4.3 years compared to 2009.
The population growth last year was due to the increase in the “migratory balance” or the difference between people leaving and people coming to Portugal, which increased from 11,570 to 44,506 – while the “natural balance” or the difference between live births and deaths, remained negative, falling 0.25%.
In 2019, therefore, there was a positive crude rate of net migration of 0.43% and a negative crude rate of natural increase of 0.25%, in the latter case for the eleventh consecutive year, with greater expression in Área Metropolitana de Lisboa, Centro and Norte regions.
These three regions, together with Região Autónoma da Madeira, were the only ones which contributed to the population increase in 2019.
Demographic ageing in Portugal, however, continues to rise with an ageing ratio, which compares the population aged 65 and over (elderly population) with the population aged 0 to 14 years (younger population), of 163.2 in 2019.
Região Autónoma dos Açores recorded the lowest ageing ratio (97.2 elderly people per 100 young people), remaining the only region where the number of younger people exceeds the number of elderly.
Source: National Statistics Institute INE
It is estimated that 2,310,000 Portuguese nationals live abroad, and that an estimated 5 million make the Portuguese diaspora, approximately one the of the total population.
According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the states with the largest Portuguese populations were California (330,974); Massachusetts (279,722); Rhode Island (99,445); New Jersey (78,196); Florida (48,974), and Hawaii (48,527).
The same source reveals that states with the highest percentages of Portuguese population are Rhode Island (9.7%); Massachusetts (4.4%); Hawaii (4%); Connecticut (1.3%); New Hampshire (1.2%); California (1.1%); New Jersey (1.1%); Nevada (0.6%); Florida (0.3%).
Fall River (MA), with a total population of 95,072, remains the city with the highest proportion of ethnically Portuguese residents (43.9%) in the United States.
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PAJ/Staff
