Between 2023 and 2024, the number of people who immigrated to Portugal decreased by two percent, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). On the other hand, emigration of Portuguese citizens to OECD countries increased to 61,000 (an increase of four percent in 2023).
The newly released International Migration Outlook 2025 report also shows that the percentage of family reunifications has fallen by almost 50 percent in Portugal .
Even so, despite less immigration arriving in Portugal, there are increasingly more people entering the country to work . In 2024, this increase was nine percent.
Regarding long-term immigration , the OECD reports that Portugal received 138,000 new immigrants between 2023 and 2024. This number represents a decrease of 1.9 percent.
Concerning authorizations for the entry of international higher education students, there was an increase in 2024. Approximately nine thousand authorizations were issued.
Regarding the three main nationalities of people who arrived in Portugal in 2023, Brazil, Angola, and Cape Verde dominated.On the other hand, emigration of Portuguese citizens to OECD countries increased to 61,000 (an increase of four percent in 2023).
Of these 61,000, approximately 21 percent of Portuguese emigrants went to Switzerland , 19 percent to Spain , and 12 percent to France .
In the universe of the 38 OECD countries
The number of migrants who moved permanently to OECD countries decreased by four percent in 2024. However, the organization states that this number is still historically high , totaling 6.2 million people (15 percent above 2019 levels).
The annual report on International Migration Outlook shows that almost half (44 percent) of new permanent migrants moved to OECD countries for family reasons . Either to reunite with family members already residing in the host country (34 percent), or as accompanying labor migrants (10 percent).Most migrants in OECD countries are employed, with only ten percent unemployed by 2024.
Regarding temporary, and therefore seasonal, labor migration , it reached a historically high level last year, the report states.
Meanwhile, the number of new asylum seekers in the OECD continued to increase (by 13 percent).In 2024, there were three million new asylum applications in the OECD, the highest level ever recorded.
However , with the exception of the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, the number of applications decreased in the rest of the OECD.
The Organization justifies this drop with more restrictive policies . For example, faster deportation measures, fewer benefits given to refugees, and less ease of family reunification.