Migrants have ‘saved the day’ when it comes to Portugal’s demographics. 2020 ended with an increase of 2,000 people “overwhelmingly thanks to migration”, explain reports. “But it still wasn’t enough”. According to latest statistics from INE (national statistics institute) 2020’s population growth was still below that of 2019 (pre-pandemic) and failed to ease the relentless ‘aging’ of the population. While in 2019, the average age of resident population in Portugal was 45.5, 2020 saw it pass to 45.8. The very slight increase in population resulted from 41,274 migrants (compared to 2019’s 44,506) which made up for what would otherwise have been a drop in numbers (of 38,931 nationals – compared to 25,214 in 2019).
