Portugal’s population will decrease by almost two million people by 2060, from the current 10.5 million to 8.6 million, according to a study by Portugal’s respected National Statistics Institute.
In addition to the predicted population decline there will be a steady, strong rise in the number of older residents leading to a situation where fewer and fewer workers are paying for more and more pensioners.
"The resident population in Portugal will decrease between 2012 and 2060, in all of the models we considered. This trend cuts across all regions with the exception of the Algarve where the population will rise and Lisbon where it will remain steady,” according to the Institute’s research.
During this period the rate of aging will increase from 131, to 307 pensioners for every 100 young people, and there will be a drop from 340, to 149 people of working age for every 100 pensioners.
Regarding mortality there is a predicted rise with men living for an average of 86 years and women living for 92 years by 2060.
The shift towards a population of retirees is hardly unique in Europe but dilligent governments will already have started to look at the implications of this predictable imbalance and plan accordingly.
Portugal is speeding towards a nation of pensioners as an estimated 120,000 of its mostly young workers have left each year for the past two as austerity leads them to seek work in the richer parts of northern Europe.
