The number of immigrants living in Portugal decreased from 417,000 in 2012 to 401,000 a year later, according to a report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which called the drop a ‘permanent decline.’
The summary shows the decline as sustained and that the economic crisis and immigrants taking up Portuguese nationality have been the main factors.
The report also looked at national emigration, noting that among those people who left Portugal in 2011 and 2012, 40% were between 15 and 29-years old and 70% were male.
As for destinations, the European Union and Switzerland remain the dominant destinations, but non-European locations, especially Angola, have emerged as important destinations for Portuguese emigrants, says the report.
Although the Brazilian population in Portugal continues to decline, by 13,500 in 2013, almost one in four immigrants living here are Brazilian.
For the first time in five years the number of long-term visas issued grew to 15,800, the increase resulting from a higher number of foreign student visas being issued. There was small drop in the number of work visas.
"The increasing outflow of long-term immigrants, which began with the recession, continues," observe the authors, adding that "The scale of these numbers is nearly the same as the Portuguese emigration pattern recorded at the end of the 1960s and early 1970s."
Even with the high registered unemployment in OECD countries "immigration still has a role to play in meeting the needs of the labour market and as a driving force of economic growth," the report concludes.
The steady decline in the number of immigrants living and working in Portugal has continued into 2014 as the economic recession had made jobs scarce and pay rates even lower.
