After all the doom and gloom that Portugal was headed for extinction as less and less people were opting to have babies, surprise data has shown a sudden leap in the country’s level of procreation.
In the first seven months of this year, 1500 more babies were born than in the same period in 2014.
According to the national “foot prick test” (the first test given to newborns), 47,886 children were born in Portugal up to the end of July this year, as opposed to 46,386 registered last year.
If the tendency persists, president of Portugal’s demographic society Maria Filomena Mendes agrees “we’re entering into recuperation. The expectation is that we will have more children born this year than in 2014”.
Although it is “a bit early to see whether this is a sustainable increase”, she said it was nonetheless a “positive sign”.
“In the last few years we lost around 18% of our birthrate. To have a greater number (of children born) will be a benchmark”.
As to the reasons that could lie behind the sudden leap in the number of children born, Mendes suggested it could be the nation’s mothers who delay having a second child until it becomes a case of “it’s now or never”.
