Lower-Back Pain Tops Portugal's Chronic-Illness Ranking, Afflicting 3.2 Million as Hypertension and High Cholesterol Follow
INE's 2025 National Health Survey, published 24 June, finds lower-back pain is now Portugal's most common chronic condition, affecting 3.2 million residents and striking the young as well as the old. Hypertension, high cholesterol and excess weight round out the picture.
Lower-back pain has become Portugal's most common chronic complaint, affecting around 3.2 million residents aged 15 and over — close to a third of the population — according to the National Health Survey (Inquérito Nacional de Saúde) for 2025, released by Statistics Portugal (Instituto Nacional de Estatística, or INE) on 24 June.
The survey, fielded in the final quarter of 2025, paints a portrait of a population troubled less by acute disease than by chronic, everyday ailments. Back pain reached 37.1 percent among women and 26.1 percent among men, and — tellingly — was already widespread among adults aged 25 to 34, undercutting the assumption that it is purely a complaint of old age.
The chronic-illness league table
Behind back pain, the most prevalent conditions were arterial hypertension at 25.6 percent, high cholesterol at 23.8 percent, chronic neck pain at 21.6 percent, allergies at 20.2 percent and arthritis at 19 percent. Women reported higher prevalence than men across all six of the leading conditions.
Weight emerged as the survey's other headline. More than half of the adult population — 57.1 percent — was overweight or obese. INE counted roughly 1.7 million adults living with obesity and a further 3.8 million in the pre-obesity range. Taken together, the musculoskeletal complaints and the metabolic risk factors describe a sedentary, ageing society whose biggest health burdens are manageable but persistent.
What This Means for Expats
Primary care is the front line: Most of these conditions — back pain, blood pressure, cholesterol — are managed at the level of the family doctor and the health centre rather than the hospital. Registering with the public health service (Serviço Nacional de Saúde, or SNS) and securing a médico de família should be an early priority for new residents.
Prevention pays: The prominence of weight-related risk and back pain among younger adults underlines the value of an active lifestyle — one of the quieter perks of Portugal's climate and walkable cities.
For practical orientation, our guides to navigating SNS maternity care and to requesting the European Health Insurance Card explain how the system handles registration and cross-border cover.
Private capacity is growing: Demand for chronic-condition management is one reason private operators keep expanding — witness Lusíadas Saúde's new €60 million hospital in Faro. If you carry private insurance, check whether physiotherapy and routine screening are covered, since these address exactly the ailments the survey flags. And as we reported when the Ordem dos Médicos pushed to tighten health-advertising rules, it pays to be discerning about where you seek treatment.
