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Demographics

Aerial view over the red rooftops of central Lisbon looking down the pedestrian Rua Augusta filled with people, under a cloudy sky

Portugal Rises to the EU's Ninth-Most-Populous Country as Its Resident Count Passes 11.4 Million

Portugal has become the EU's ninth most populous state, with 11,424,031 residents on 1 January 2026, up 36,809 on the year. With deaths outnumbering births, the entire increase comes from net migration — a reliance now at the centre of the country's politics.

The Portugal Brief 11 Jul 2026

The schist village of Piodao in Portugal's interior at dusk, its dark stone houses clustered on a green terraced hillside with warm street lights glowing among them

As August Approaches, Portugal's Hollowed-Out Interior Waits for Its Emigrants to Come Home

Each summer, interior villages inhabited mostly by the elderly fill again as emigrants return from France, Luxembourg and Switzerland for the festas. The annual homecoming is a window into deep depopulation — and, for expats eyeing cheap inland stone houses, a caution as much as an opportunity.

The Portugal Brief 05 Jul 2026

Portugal's Demographic Squeeze Comes Into Focus as INE Projections Point Toward 8.3 Million People by 2100

Portugal's Demographic Squeeze Comes Into Focus as INE Projections Point Toward 8.3 Million People by 2100

Behind a week of headlines about pensions, labour shortages and immigration sits one slow-moving force: a population that official projections see shrinking from 10.7 million today toward 8.3 million by century's end.

The Portugal Brief 27 Jun 2026

Lisbon rooftops overlooking the Tagus estuary

INE Counts 11,424,031 Residents at the End of 2025 as Foreigners Reach 14% of the Population — Algarve Leads at 27.9% Foreign, Greater Lisbon at 22.6% and the Median Age Stands at 45.8

Portugal ended 2025 with a record 11,424,031 residents, 14% of them foreign nationals, according to provisional INE figures released on Monday. The country is at once older and more foreign-born than ever.

The Portugal Brief 22 Jun 2026

Portugal Booked 87,764 Live Births in 2025 — +3.7% Annual Lift, One-in-Three Foreign-Mother Share and 121,817 Deaths Set the Natural-Balance Deficit at −34,053

INE's Estatísticas Vitais print for 2025 books 87,764 live births in Portugal, +3.7% on 2024 — but 121,817 deaths and a one-in-three foreign-mother share leave the natural-balance gap wide. What the BdP migration cut means for the trajectory.

The Portugal Brief 16 Jun 2026

Portuguese Births Rebound to 87,764 in INE's 2025 Demographic Tape — Foreign-Born Mothers Carry Roughly a Third of the Recovery as Natural-Balance Deficit Widens to −34,053

Portuguese Births Rebound to 87,764 in INE's 2025 Demographic Tape — Foreign-Born Mothers Carry Roughly a Third of the Recovery as Natural-Balance Deficit Widens to −34,053

Portugal logged 87,764 live births in 2025 (+3.7% YoY) per INE — but the natural-balance deficit widened to −34,053 and roughly one in three babies was born to a foreign-born mother. The Total Fertility Rate remains stuck near 1.40 with population sustained by net migration.

The Portugal Brief 07 Jun 2026

Portugal Slots Third on the 2045 EU Pension-Spend Curve as Brussels Pegs the Trajectory at 15.1% of GDP — Working-Age Population Drop Drives the 230-Basis-Point Lift From 2025's 12.8% Base

Portugal Slots Third on the 2045 EU Pension-Spend Curve as Brussels Pegs the Trajectory at 15.1% of GDP — Working-Age Population Drop Drives the 230-Basis-Point Lift From 2025's 12.8% Base

Brussels' 3 June 2026 Country-Specific Recommendation projects Portuguese public pension spending climbing from 12.8% of GDP in 2025 to 15.1% in 2045 — third-highest in the EU. Commission criticises reform inertia and flags underdeveloped complementary pensions.

The Portugal Brief 03 Jun 2026

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