Portugal Records 195 Deaths of Babies Under One in Nine Months, 14 More Than Last Year, as Overall Deaths Ease

Portugal recorded 195 deaths of children under one year old in the first nine months of 2026, 14 more than the 181 recorded from January to September 2025. The figures come from the preliminary monthly vital statistics release published on Friday by the Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE, Statistics Portugal). The rise works out at 7.7 percent (our calculation). Over the same nine months, deaths across the whole population fell: INE counts 89,781, which is 1,023 fewer than a year earlier.

The release covers deaths up to September and births and marriages up to August. It is drawn from civil registry entries made up to 9 October.

September on its own

INE registered 8,928 deaths in September, 160 more than in September 2025 (up 1.8 percent) and 157 fewer than in August. Of those, 72 were people resident abroad.

Fifteen children under one died in September, all born to mothers resident in Portugal. That is eight fewer than in September 2025 and 13 fewer than in August.

Reading the infant figures

These numbers are small, so a single month can swing the percentage a long way. INE's table shows between 15 and 30 deaths of children under one in each month of 2026. The highest was July's 30, the largest monthly figure in a table that goes back to January 2023 (our reading of the table). Adding up INE's monthly figures, the January to September total was 194 in 2024 and 168 in 2023 (our calculation). That puts this year roughly level with 2024 and above 2025.

The counts are also revised as late registrations come in. Last month's release, which we reported on 20 September, gave 19 deaths of children under one for August. Friday's table puts August at 28, two of them recorded as resident abroad. Total deaths for August moved from 9,021 to 9,085.

The release does not give an infant mortality rate, a split between deaths in the first weeks of life and later ones, or causes of death. As a rough guide only, the 180 deaths of children under one from January to August set against the 57,598 live births in those months come to about 3.1 per 1,000. That is our calculation, not an official rate. Eurostat, the EU statistics office, puts Portugal's infant mortality rate at 3.0 per 1,000 live births in 2024, up from 2.5 in 2023, against 3.5 across the EU in 2024.

Births, the natural balance and marriages

• Births: 7,267 live births in August, 292 fewer than in August 2025 (down 3.9 percent) and 367 fewer than in July. From January to August there were 57,598, which is 66 more (up 0.1 percent) than in the same months of 2025.
• Natural balance: deaths outnumbered births by 1,795 in August, a smaller gap than the 2,319 of August 2025. The gap from January to August was 23,024, against 24,268 a year earlier.
• Marriages: 5,145 in August, 160 more than a year earlier (up 4.6 percent). The total for the first eight months was 25,631, up 4.1 percent.

INE's next monthly release is due on 13 November.