Portugal: Voluntary Exit of Immigrants Leads to Decrease of Social Security Contributions
Mário Centeno, co-author of the recently published Contas Certas -- Crónica de Uma Mudança Política em Portugal (Accurate Accounts -- Chronicle of a Political Change in Portugal) (Photo from CNN Portugal)
The ex-Governor of the Bank of Portugal and ex-Minister of Finance, Mário Centeno, said that the state's finances are only not in worse shape because of contributions from immigrants. However, he warned that these contributions are decreasing because many foreigners have chosen to leave the country, reported SIC Notícias (September 24).
Social Security saw a decrease in immigrant contributions from June to July by 12,866, representing a reduction of 27.3 million euros.
In July, foreign workers represented 18.7 percent of contributors, with contributions totaling 14.5 percent of the amount received from Social Security.
At the same time, the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) announced an increase in notifications of voluntary departure (23,133) in 2025 compared to the previous year (446), especially among Indians.
By comparison, in 2020, there was an exponential growth in the number of foreign taxpayers and in contributions to the system which, for the first time, exceeded one billion euros and which kept the balance very favorable, even in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Catarina Reis Oliveira, the director of the Observatory for Migration (OM), reported Expresso (December 18, 2021).
Mário Centeno has said that "most of the debates" about immigration in Portugal are conducted "against science", arguing that economic evidence overwhelmingly points to positive effects of migratory movements on economies and workers, reported CNN Portugal (July 13).
Tightening of Immigration
Portugal's revised Foreigners' Law (Lei de Estrangeiros) entered into force on October 23, 2025, tightening immigration rules, according to Key Integration Developments and Research in Portugal (January 26), Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission. The law received 70 percent approval in Parliament. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa signed it, acknowledging a wave shift in the country, reported Expresso (October 16, 2025).
The other two major recent immigration-tightening laws were the Nationality Law (Lei da Nacionalidade), which President António José Seguro promulgated with warnings in May, according to Expresso (May 3) and the Deportation Law (Lei de retorno e asilo), which President Seguro signed on August 31.
There had been a warning from the Superior Council of Administrative and Tax Courts said that the Deportation Law would lead to "an exponential increase in lawsuits", further delaying decisions. The Superior Council, already overloaded, handles the thousands of lawsuits against the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), which take an average of two years and four months for resolution.
The Portuguese Parliament also approved, and President Marcelo Rebelo de Souse signed into law, creation of the National Unit for Foreigners and Borders (UNEF) within the Public Security Police, reported Público Brasil (July 17, 2025). The unit is responsible for controlling the borders and removing illegal immigrants or people whose application for legalization has been rejected by the authorities.
Portugal's Population
Portugal's population was estimated at 11,424,031 on December 31, 2025, an increase of 36,809 people (0.32 percent) from 2024, according to Statistics Portugal, National Institute of Statistics.
The institute's Resident Population Estimates for 2025 was "the first fully based on administrative data".
"In just seven years, the resident foreign population quadrupled, exceeding 1.5 million people by the end of 2024, confirming the country's consolidation as a territory of structural immigration," according to Immigration in Portugal: an ongoing democratic and social transformation (December 18, 2025) by migration specialist Pedro Góis, Francisco Manuel dos Santos Fundação.
"At the beginning of 2024, the proportion of foreigners in the resident population in Portugal (9.8 percent) was in line with the European Union average (9.6 percent in the European Union)."
A total of 1,585,854 foreign citizens reside in Portugal, according to the 71-page Report of Migration and Asylum 2025, the annual report of the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), which was published in September 2026.
For the sixth consecutive year, Brazilian nationals remained the largest foreign community residing in the country, with 493,622, accounting for 31.1 percent of foreign citizens, according to AIMA.
Angolan nationals (99,050) held the position of the second-largest community.
The other nationalities represented in Portugal were as follows: India (91,405); Ukraine (84,889); Cape Verde (71,005); Nepal (56,304); Bangladesh (55,579); Guinea-Bissau (51,135); United Kingdom (47,726); Italy (42,418); Pakistan (42,042); São Tomé e Príncipe (41,800), and Others (408,079).
Foreign Residents by Continent (From Report of Migration and Asylum 2025 (September 2026), Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA))
Geographical Distribution of Foreign Resident Population
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