Emigration figures reveal 285,000 Portuguese have left the country for good in the last four years: a further concern is that immigration has decreased.
Portugal’s Centre for Emigration reported today that "Over the past four years, the number of people who have left Portugal grew by over 50%. Only in 2013 at least 110,000 Portuguese emigrated. You have to go back to 1973 to find numbers like these."
Emigration has never ceased to exist, but "the pace of growth seen in recent years is a new phenomenon.
"Portuguese emigration did not start in recent years. Strictly speaking, it never disappeared, having grown continuously since Portugal joined the European Union after the downturn that followed the April 25, 1974 and accelerated when the Portuguese economy went into prolonged stagnation at the beginning of this century."
Other data related to the Portuguese living abroad are their remittances, which have increased by 24% in recent years.
"The growth of remittances, although significant, has not kept pace with the growth of this new emigration," said Rui Pena Pires from the Centre, adding that Portugal now has the lowest immigration and birth rates in the EU and lacks the tax income from outflowing workers.
There is no great influx of fresh blood envisaged, unlike in the 1970s when returnees from African colonies helped offset the impact of emigration from the previous decade.
Even the Bank of Portugal has spotted in a 2014 report analysing the Portuguese economy, that the flow of emigration "has a major impact."
Pires argues that the reduction in Portugal's active population will lead to the stagnation of the Portuguese economy and the destruction of jobs.
"Without growth rates and employment levels being higher than the European Union average, it is unlikely that this situation will alter. The return of significant numbers of today's emigrants is a mirage."
"A recovery in the Portuguese economy will have to incorporate public policies to promote immigration and some ambitious demographic goals, far beyond simply attracting more qualified workers or entrepreneurs."
The nature of party politics is that this serious demographic problem always will be left for someone else to fix.
