Portugal has seen a significant increase in its immigrant population, surpassing initial estimates by more than 50,000 individuals. According to the Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum (AIMA), the number of immigrants in Portugal now stands at approximately 1.6 million, a sharp rise from earlier figures of over 1.5 million reported at the beginning of the year.
The updated data reveals that AIMA’s earlier estimates for 2024 did not account for over 50,000 immigrants who had already arrived in the first half of the previous year. Officials have acknowledged uncertainty about whether the current numbers fully capture all individuals who have entered the country.
Immigrants now represent nearly 15 percent of Portugal’s total population. The most significant increase occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, in 2020, the immigrant population in Portugal was around 600,000. By 2023, this number had surged to 1.3 million, with an additional 300,000 immigrants added in 2024.
The largest groups of immigrants in Portugal have come from Brazil, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Nepal, according to the AIMA report.
“Fast Track” Residency Legalisation Programme
In response to the growing immigrant population, Portugal has introduced a “fast track” programme for residency legalisation, which officially came into effect in April. The new regulations are designed to expedite the legal adjustment of immigrants’ status, with employers playing a key role in the process. Employers will be required to submit residency applications on behalf of their foreign workers.
As part of the programme, employers must also provide training for the immigrants they employ, which includes both professional and language training. An essential condition for the fast-track process is that immigrants must have a residential address in Portugal. Estimates suggest that more than 400,000 immigrants are currently awaiting legal residency in the country.
This new initiative aims to address the rising demand for legal status among Portugal’s immigrant population, streamlining the process and fostering greater integration into the workforce.
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