In 2022, 2,940 people aged 100 or over lived in Portugal, against 1,658 in 2012, according to figures from the statistical database of the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation.

The inversion of the demographic pyramid is considered one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century in most European countries and also in Portugal, where the weight of the elderly population has doubled in the last 36 years. According to Pordata, 24% of the Portuguese population is now 65 years old or older.

"The future of European economies and societies depends on how this issue will be faced in the short term, therefore it is important to analyse this trend and also the conditions in which the elderly population currently lives", underlines Pordata's analysis to the statistic data.

Of the 10.4 million people living in Portugal, 2.5 million are aged 65 or over, with women in the majority (57%).

“This higher female weight grows as age increases: women represent 62% of the total population aged 80 or over”, reads a document released by the platform.

Foreign seniors

In the most recent Census (2021), 46,000 foreigners aged 65 or over were registered in Portugal. “In the last decade, the number of foreigners in this age group has more than doubled (in 2011 there were 20,000), with 67% being European, mainly from the United Kingdom (19%); France (12%) and Italy (7%)”, noted Pordata. Among non-Europeans, Brazilians stand out (11%).

“The increased interest in Portugal among the senior population also impacts immigration numbers: In 2021, 23,000 people in this age group entered the country, equivalent to 23% of all immigrants”, highlighted the experts who compiled the data.

In 2022, Portugal was the second country in the European Union with the highest proportion of people aged 65 or over (23.7%), after Italy (23.8%). The European average was 21.1% last year.

The senior population surpassed that of children and young people at the turn of the millennium.

The aging index in Portugal reveals that there are 184 people aged 65 or over for every 100 young people. In all municipalities in the country, with the exception of Lagoa and Ribeira Grande, in the Azores, the number of elderly people is higher than the number of young people.