For the second time since general censuses were carried out in the country, Portugal’s population suffered a declineaccording to the final data of the 2021 Census released this Wednesday by the National Institute of Statistics.

On April 19, 2021, 10,343,066 people lived in Portugal???????? This world population is divided between 5,422,846 women and 4,920,220 men.

The number represents a population decline of 2.1% compared to 2011, the year in which the last general census of the Portuguese population was carried out.

In addition, according to the report published this Wednesday by the INE, “this value reflects a change in the trend in population growth in recent decades and represents the second recorded population drop since 1864year in which the I General Population Census was not carried out”.

Until now, the only time that the Portuguese population census has registered a decrease occurred in the 1970 Census. emigration that took place in the 1960s was the main factor that contributed to the fall in the number of inhabitants in Portugal.

20% of the population lives in 1.1% of the territory

In addition, the INE report points to a reinforcement of the “pattern of costing the country and concentration of the population near the capital.”

????????Nearly 20% of the country’s population is concentrated in the 7 most populous municipalities that cover an area of ​​only 1.1% of the territory???????? At the other extreme, also representing about 20% of the population, we have the 208 least populated municipalities that occupy 65.8% of the country’s surface area,” the document says.

During the last decade, there were only two regions of the country where the population increased: the Algarve (+3.6%) and the metropolitan area of ​​Lisbon (+1.7%).

On the contrary, all other regions of the country lost populationwith special emphasis on Alentejo (-7%) and Madeira (-6.4%).

Even an increase in the number of foreigners living in Portugal did not help to prevent a fall in the total population residing in the country.

“At the time of the 2021 Census, 542,314 people of foreign nationality resided in Portugal, which represented 5.2% of the total population, a value higher than the 3.7% registered in 2011. The largest foreign community residing in Portugal was the Brazilian, with 199,810 individuals (around 36.8%), followed by Angola, with 31,556 individuals (5.8%). The Cape Verdean community was the third most represented in Portugal, with 27,144 (5.0%), the British appearing with 24,609 (4.5%)”, it reads.

23.4% of the population is elderly, but only 12.9% are under 14 years of age

This movement of the population towards the coast and towards the interior has been accompanied by a significant aging of the population. “The low birth rate and the increase in longevity observed in recent decades are reflected in the age pyramid,” says the INE report.

The statistics leave no doubt: “Between 2011 and 2021, in all age groups up to 39 years there was a decrease in the population, with special incidence in the age group of 30 to 39 years. Instead, all age groups older than 44 have increased in relative importance.

“In 2021, the percentage of the elderly population (65 and over) represented 23.4% while that of young people (0-14 years) was only 12.9%,” says the INE document.

The report brings some useful indicators to understand the aging of the Portuguese population:

• THE the average age of the population is 45.4 years, an increase of 3.1 years over 2011;
• The “aging rate” has increased: there are now 182 older adults for every 100 young peoplewhile in 2011 there were 128;
• The “active population rejuvenation rate” has fallen: for every 100 people in the 55-64 age group, there are now 76 people in the age group 20-29when in 2011 they were 94. For rejuvenation, this value had to be greater than 100.

The age pyramid also makes it possible to draw conclusions about the relationship between the male population and the female population. Although there are 91 men for every 100 women in Portugal, the male population is higher than the female population up to 30 years of age. From there, it is women who are in superiority.

This difference reflects thehigher levels of mortality in the male population“, says the INE.

More divorcees and more common-law unions: data shows changes in families

The new data from the 2021 Census also makes it clear that considerable changes are taking place in family models in Portugal.

In the first place, there is a considerable increase in the population that lives in a common-law union, instead of opting for marriage. In 2021 there was more than a million Portuguese in common-law unionrepresenting 11.2% of the population—while in 2011 this reality represented 8.1% of the population.

On the other hand, there was also a increase in the percentage of divorced Portuguese: now it is 8%, two percentage points more than in 2011. An increase that could help explain the married population drop (They are already 41% of the Portuguese, 2.1 percentage points less than in 2011). The most common marital status among residents in Portugal is single: 43.5% of the population.

Portuguese have higher education

The INE report also contributes to understanding the evolution of the education level of the Portuguese population. According to the 2021 Census, “in the last decade, the level of education of the population has increased significantly, with the reinforcement of the population with higher education and with secondary and post-secondary education.”

“The 2021 Census reveals that the population with higher education is 1,782,888 people, which represents 19.8% of the population aged 15 or over (13.9% in 2011). The population with secondary and post-secondary education went from 16.7% to 24.7%,” the report says.

On the other hand, the illiteracy rate has been decreasing in the country. In 2021, the number of Portuguese people aged 10 or over who could not read or write was 292,809, that is, an illiteracy rate of 3.1% — a decrease compared to 2011, when the illiteracy rate was 5.2%????????

More people live alone and more rented houses, with higher rents

The 2021 Census report also portrays the Portuguese reality in terms of housing and family reality.

One of the main conclusions refers to the decrease in the size of households: in 2021, households in Portugal consisted of an average of 2.5 people0.1 percentage points less than in 2011.

The INE places special emphasis on reinforcing the percentage of Portuguese living alone: ​​currently, 24.8% of households in Portugal are made up of a single person. There are more than a million Portuguese living alone.

At the same time, the number of single-parent families is also increasing: there are now 579,971, which represents 18.5% of the number of families, 3.6 percentage points more than in 2011. Within this universe of single-parent families, 85.6% is made up of a mother with children and only 14.4% is made up of a father with children????????

The Portuguese also increasingly live in rented houses. The number of homes for rent has increased by 16% in the last decade (although the national reality continues to be mostly home ownership), while rents have increased by an average of 42.1% compared to 2011.

The final results of the 2021 Census are fully available on a specific platform on the INE website.