OBSERVARE
Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa
ISSN: 1647-7251
Vol. 2, n.º 1 (Spring 2011), pp. 127-136
Notes and Reflections
PORTUGAL 2010: THE RETURN OF THE COUNTRY OF EMIGRATION?1
Jorge Malheiros
Associate professor at the Institute of Geography and Regional Planning, University of Lisbon.
Researcher at the Centre for Geographical Studies.
He works in the field of international migration with emphasis
on issues of management of flows, the social and economic integration of migrants,
segregation issues, and the relationship of transnational immigrant communities.
For about 15 years between the beginning of the 1990s and the end of the first decade
of the twenty first century, Portuguese emigration acquired a status of near-invisibility
in addressing migration issues associated with Portugal, both on the part of politicians
and academics. Immigration, for many synonymous with developed country, in a
context of modernization and economic growth, not only ensured employment for all
indigenous people but also needed to fill various sectoral deficits (from the "classics"
like those found in construction, public works or in domestic service to the "new ", such
as agriculture, some segments of the industry and, increasingly, retail), took almost all
the space reserved to the phenomenon of international migration in the political,
academic and social agendas.
There is ample empirical evidence of this process. A governmental entity was set up in
1995 to address the issues associated with the integration of immigrants - the High
Commission for Integration and Ethnic Minorities (ACIME) – which, in 2001, was
converted into the current ACIDI, with corresponding upgrading of responsibilities,
funds and resources, and, subsequently turned into the High Commission for
Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue (currently called ACIDI, IP). This entity set up
two National Centres to address the needs of this community, which were further
complemented with the establishment of a network of 87 Local Centres. In addition, the
Portuguese consular network was "optimized" and proximity to the various emigration
nuclei was reduced, which demonstrates that the importance of emigration was, to
some extent, played down. This is further corroborated by the gradual disappearance of
mechanisms for collecting and disseminating regular information on Portuguese
migration flows and stocks (data from the Survey on Outgoing Migratory Movements -
IMMS – were no longer made available by the INE from 2003 onwards, and emigration
1 In memoriam of Maria Ioannis Baganha, a remarkable researcher in the area of migrations, and above all
for having been a true friend.
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Portugal 2010: The return of the country of emigration?
Jorge Malheiros
128
estimates in the context of Demographic Statistics were published only a few months
ago; the censuses almost exclude emigration), only countered with the creation of the
Emigration Observatory in 2008.
Although some politicians may have recently drawn attention to the supposedly normal
fact that Portugal has a "dual nature as a country of origin and as a country of
destination of migratory flows”2 (Vitorino, 2007:20), this happens only when
information on the number of exits, even if incomplete and with gaps, points to an
increase and diversification of migration. Indeed, in the 1990s and in the first half of
the 2010s, when IMMS data estimates reported exits of about 27-28.000 people on a
yearly basis (as in 1995-1999, 2002 and 2003) and emigrant remittances outweighed
the volume of EU funds and still accounted for 3% of the GDP (nowadays they account
for about 1.5%), the political agenda’s myopia with regard to emigration flows was
significant, as it only paid tentative attention to the consolidated, old and numerous
"diaspora" (worth between 2.3 and 5 million, depending on whether Portuguese
nationals, or of Portuguese origin, were counted)3, as evidenced by the reappearance of
the Portuguese Communities Council (1996)4 and the enactment of legislation in 1997
that extended, albeit with some restrictions, the right to vote in presidential elections to
Portuguese living abroad.
However, and as mentioned earlier, throughout this period the views of Portuguese
academics also reflected this process of relative lack of visibility of Portuguese
emigration. While the number of publications on research on immigration has increased
almost exponentially in the last 15 years, studies on migration abated. For example, it
is significant that the literature on Portuguese emigration kept at the Emigration
Observatory points to the publication of only 17 books on this subject in Portugal, while
just at the Immigration Observatory, about 40 works on immigration to Portugal were
published in just half of that period (this does not include dozens of works published by
research centres and publishers ...)5.
This imbalance in the treatment of the two phenomena could also be found in the
national media, which multiplied news about immigration and ethnic minorities between
the mid-1990s and the second half of this 2010s6. As evidenced by Ferin Cunha and
Santos (2006, 2008) in their studies on the presence of this phenomenon in the press
and on television, between 2003 and 2005 the number of news increased, which
justifies the assertion that these issues "definitely became a theme in television news
"(Ferin Cunha and Santos, 2008: 100). As for Portuguese emigration, despite
continuing to be in the national news during this period, it tended to be mentioned in a
2 Vitorino, A. (2007). “Introdução aos relatórios dos workshops realizados no âmbito do Fórum Gulbenkian
de Imigração” in Vitorino, A. (coord.), Imigração: Oportunidade ou Ameaça? – Recomendações do Fórum
Gulbenkian Imigração. Estoril: Princípia: 19.
3 Pires, R. P. (coord.) (2010). Portugal: Atlas das Migrações Internacionais. Lisbon: Tinta da China: 92.
4 The first Portuguese Communities Council (CCP) was created in 1980 and carried out its activities as an
advisory body of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1981 and 1987, being deactivated in the
following year. The current council was created in 1996 by Law No. 48/96 of 4 September. On this
subject, see Aguilar, M. M. (2009) “O Conselho das Comunidades Portuguesas e a representação dos
emigrantes”, in Padilla, B.and Xavier, M. (org.), Migrações, No. 5, Lisbon: ACIDI, pp. 257-262.
5 Historical publications exclusively about migration movements before the middle of the 20th century
were not included in any of the reference information sources.
6 Ferin Cunha, I. and Santos, C.A (2004). Media, Imigração e Minorias Étnicas: Televisão e Imprensa
2003. Lisbon: ACIME and Ferin Cunha, I. and Santos, C.A, (coords.) (2006). Media, Imigração e Minorias
Étnicas II. Lisbon: ACIME.
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Portugal 2010: The return of the country of emigration?
Jorge Malheiros
129
more sporadic way, with a traditional increase in the summer months when the
emigrants returned to Portugal to spend the summer period.
Naturally, one may ask if the enhanced visibility of immigration in the political and
public agendas in that period was fully justified by both the significant growth and
diversification of incoming flows (in regional terms, in the forms of professional
integration..), particularly during the transition years from one century to the next,
and by the need to provide an effective social response to the phenomenon, ensuring,
simultaneously, equal rights, control of possible national xenophobia and fair
integration conditions. Although we believe that was the case, this does not justify the
erasure of emigration as a social and political phenomenon that has continued to take
place in Portuguese society in the 1990s and the first decade of the present century.
Indeed, what seems to have taken place, in addition to the normal turn towards
immigration provoked by the latter’s sudden and significant growth, was a social
construction of a certain social invisibility of the emigration phenomenon in Portugal,
particularly with regard to its scope and numbers. This took place as part of a process
widely encouraged by the political power, which was joined by academics, the media
and other powers - which portrayed emigration as part of a past that should be
forgotten, because it allegedly meant lack of development, poor employment
opportunities, and backwardness. However, and as we shall see next, Portuguese
emigration always continued, and the social networks that support it were activated
with greater intensity from the middle of this decade, when the economic model
adopted for the country's growth in recent years began to show clear signs of
exhaustion.
The recent evolution of Portuguese emigration – intensity, destinations
and profiles
While Portuguese emigration remained active in the 1990s, it was in the last decade
that the various sources we have accessed begin to show signs of an increase in the
number of exits, as part of a process that combined the search for new destinations
(i.e. the United Kingdom and Spain, increasing between the late 1990s and 2007;
Angola, in the last three years) with the revival of pre-existing emigration networks,
such as Luxembourg and Switzerland.
In concrete terms, although there is no accurate data on current flows of Portuguese
emigration, the figures point to a volume not far from 70,000 annual exits in the
second half of the present decade. This figure, which is high and up by 30% between
the first and the second half of first decade of the twenty first century (Table 1), must
be interpreted in the light of two factors that differentiate it from the situation that
occurred in the 1960s and early 1970s: on the one hand, the mobility framework has
changed significantly, and a substantial part of this emigration has taken place in an
area of free movement of workers within the EU; on the other hand, some of this
mobility is temporary and of a non-permanent nature , something which has also been
made possible thanks to the free movement. The relevance of the temporary nature of
migration is supported not only by IMMS data released by the INE covering the period
up to until 2002 and 2003, which showed a percentage of this type of flows
corresponding to about ¾ of the total, but also by the fact that Portugal is one of 6
countries in the European Economic Area with the highest volume of placements
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Vol. 2, n.º 1 (Spring 2011), pp. 127-136
Portugal 2010: The return of the country of emigration?
Jorge Malheiros
130
abroad7 in 2007 (Fig.1). This demonstrates that the Portuguese still use the European
area as major emigration destination, and, above all, as an area for professional
mobility, a process that has increased over the last years.
Table 1 - Portuguese inflows at main destinations (averages 2005/06 and
2008/2009)
Average
(05-06)
Average
(08-09)
Rate of
change
05/06-08/09
Germany 3395
4341
27,9
Spain 16993
13298
-21,7
Netherlands 1021
1993
95,3
Luxembourg 3779
4531
19,9
United Kingdom 10705
12605
17,7
Andorra 2438
722
-70,4
Switzerland 12290
15629
27,2
Angola 156
12631
7996,5
USA 1267
859
-32,2
Brazil 536
694
29,4
TOTAL 52577
67302
28,0
Notes: Netherlands and Luxembourg (2005/2006 and 2008); Angola (2006 and 2008/2009). There is no
information for France.
Source: Observatório da emigração (compilation of data based on various sources)
However, the analysis of the main countries of destination, with the exception of
France, for which it was not possible to obtain information on annual flows, shows that
Europe is not the only relevant target of Portuguese emigration, and that even within
Europe some changes have taken place. Indeed, the emergence of Angola as a growing
destination of Portuguese emigration after 2005/2006 (Table 1), is the best example of
the present process of reorganization of the international mobility destinations of the
Portuguese, who can take advantage of emerging countries with high economic growth
rates, especially those that have Portuguese, Spanish or English as their official
languages and have shortages of workforce with intermediate or higher qualifications in
sectors such as construction, public works and tourism
7 The placements abroad regulated by the European Union refer to “workers who, for a limited period of
time, carry out their professional activity in a country other than the one where they normally work in”.
It leaves out people who are self-employed, and those who are in search of a job outside their own
country. It therefore refers to professional workers employers deliberately relocate to other countries on
a temporary basis to carry out their jobs. On this, see
Directive 96/71/EC of the European Council and Eurofound (2010), Posted Workers in the European
Union. Dublin, European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations
ISSN: 1647-7251
Vol. 2, n.º 1 (Spring 2011), pp. 127-136
Portugal 2010: The return of the country of emigration?
Jorge Malheiros
131
Figure 1 - Placements abroad in 2007 - countries of the European Economic
Area with 5000 placements and over
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
France
Poland
Germany
Czech Rep.
The Netherlands
Portugal
Belgium
Luxembourg
United Kingdom
Spain
Hungary
Slovakia
Denmark
Slovenia
Austria
Switzerland
Estonia
Romania
Finland
Sweden
Bulgaria
Lithuania
x 1000
Nonetheless, this restructuring of the destinations for Portuguese emigration has also
taken place in Europe itself, with Spain (the main destination of Portuguese emigration)
and the United Kingdom emerging as highly attractive areas between the beginning of
this decade and the 2008 crisis. However, in these cases, the qualifications of
Portuguese emigrants are even more asymmetric, since the relatively high proportion
of the workforce in highly qualified professions (almost 20% in the UK and around 11%
in Spain) is counterbalanced by an even higher number of those who carry out
unskilled activities (23.5% and 26%, respectively - Table 2).
Table 2 - Comparative elements of the stocks of Portuguese immigrants in
France, Luxembourg, Spain and United Kingdom, 2000 (some basic
features)
France
Luxembourg Spain
United
Kingdom
Senior managers from the public and private
sectors and leaders 3,4
2,6
7,1
12,1
Intellectual and scientific professions 2,0
1,4
3,6
7,4
Services workers and vendors 2,9
8,8
17,3
26,7
Labourers and related 51,4
34,1
23,8
5,7
Unskilled workers 8,4
32,9
23,5
25,9
Percentagem de pop. Com ensino superior 4,1
2,9
7,5
19,3
Percentage of women 48,7
47,2
51,7
50,8
Percentage of population aged 15
-
24 in the over
15s 3,8
14,3
11,1
17,4
Source: OECD - DIOP - Database on Immigrants in OECD countries
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Portugal 2010: The return of the country of emigration?
Jorge Malheiros
132
With regard to the more traditional European destinations, Switzerland, which is the
2nd largest recipient of Portuguese emigrants, assumes prominence, alongside
Luxembourg (and, to a lesser extent, Andorra) which, due to their demographic size,
must be seen as relevant destinations for current Portuguese emigration. As for France,
despite the shortage of information, and Germany, which, during the most intense
period of the public reconstruction works in the States of the former GDR, became one
of the most important two or three top destinations for the Portuguese, they have lost
the standing they once enjoyed.
In short, current Portuguese emigration numbers are still significant and continue to
make an important contribution to Portugal’s GDP, despite the slight decrease noted
after 2007 and which has to be attributed to the economic crisis in many major places
of destination (2288.5 Euros in 2007; 2281.9 in 2009, which corresponded to about
1.4% of GDP). Despite continuing to use existing social networks in many countries
(Switzerland, Luxembourg, Andorra ...), Portuguese emigration has undergone a
reconstruction process that simultaneously takes advantage of geographic and
historical-cultural proximity (Spain, Angola) and regional economic dynamics within a
globalization and facilitation of worldwide mobility framework.
Figure 2 – Age structure of Portuguese flows (02/03 and 08/09)
In addition, the profiles of Portuguese emigrants seem to be undergoing changes.
Structural changes in the educational levels of nationals, associated with rise in
unemployment among young people, many of whom well-qualified, are contributing to
the slight drop in age (Fig.2) and to the diversification of the types of "Portuguese
emigrant". Although men still prevail over women, the number of women is increasing,
exceeding 40% according to the data published by INE in 2008 (Figs. 3a and 3b).
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
2002/2003
2008
> 44
years
30-
44 years
15-
29 years
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Jorge Malheiros
133
Figures 3a and 3b – Gender composition of Portuguese emigration 2002/03
and 2008
Source: INE, Estatísticas Demográficas 2003, 2004 e 2010
As for professional integration, besides the differences and opportunities associated
with the characteristics of labour markets at the various destinations, there is an
important vulnerable group of emigrants with low education levels who take on
unskilled jobs available in the market, and those with low-middle and intermediate
qualifications who, in more recent countries of destination (Spain and especially the
UK) are far more established in the services’ sector than in the former countries of
Portuguese emigration flow by gender, 2002-2003
Women
Men
Portuguese emigration flow by gender,
2008
Women
Men
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Portugal 2010: The return of the country of emigration?
Jorge Malheiros
134
emigration (France and Luxembourg), where construction works and, to a lesser
extent, the transformation industry are dominant. In addition, there is a growing
presence of qualified emigrants in the new destinations (Table 2), which attests the
existence of a new face of Portuguese emigration. While it is simplistic to speak of
"brain drain", already back in 2000 Portugal was the 3rd EU country with the highest
rate of graduate emigrants (13%)8, and the number of highly qualified young people
who go abroad to carry out a postgraduate course, an internship or look for their first
job and do not return to the country is increasingly significant. Moreover, the
prolonged economic stagnation with a systematic increase in unemployment, coupled
with high levels of precarious work and the slow conversion of a production model that
is traditionally labour-intensive and cheap, may further increase the number of exits
and particularly hamper the eventual "go out-and-come-back " of skilled workers.
Current profile of Portuguese emigrants: from the cardboard suitcase
to the leather suitcase, alongside executive folders and sports bags
The contemporary Portuguese emigrant tends to be part of temporary flows rather than
definitive ones. He/she is primarily young (over 55% are under 30 years of age) and
predominantly male, although women now represent over 40% of the movement.
Individuals with low or middle-low education levels are still significant in number, a fact
that makes them join low-skilled sectors in the industry or civil construction business.
However, an increasing number of young people with middle and higher education
qualifications are emigrating, which is reflected in their greater presence in the trade
and services sectors, and also in the most skilled professions (compare, in Table 2, the
percentage of executives and scientific professionals in the older countries of
emigration - France and Luxembourg - where they do not exceed 6%, with the
percentage of the same professional groups in Spain - about 11% - and in the UK -
almost 20%).
This diversification in profiles, which are younger, include a higher number of women,
and are more qualified, has been accompanied by changes in major destinations. Since
the 1990s, the UK has become the preferred destination in the EU, while Spain has
emerged as the principal receiver in the present decade (receiving an annual average
of almost 18 000 Portuguese emigrants between 2005 and 2009). As for major the
traditional emigration countries, Switzerland remains a key destination (the annual
average received in the aforesaid period is slightly above 14 000 persons), whereas the
flows directed to Germany, Luxembourg, Andorra, Belgium, and Holland are still
significant, although much less than in the case of Switzerland.
Outside Europe, the economic growth and modernization of Angola has attracted high
numbers of Portuguese emigrants, especially after 2007, when the economic crisis took
the edge off exits to destinations such as Spain.
8 Pires, R. P. (coord.) (2010). Portugal: Atlas das Migrações Internacionais. Lisbon: Tinta da China: 94.
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Portugal 2010: The return of the country of emigration?
Jorge Malheiros
135
How about the future? From emigration as a dramatic event to
emigration as an asset…
Given the scenarios of the Portuguese economy set for the next few years, Portuguese
emigration will not tend towards a reduction, and will probably increase in the short
term, particularly in the context of free movement in Europe, and especially if some of
the states where Portuguese emigration networks are more consolidated recover
quicker from the crisis than Portugal, and also if other countries with which there are
intense socio-cultural links maintain or accelerate their pace of economic growth and
modernization, as in the case of Angola and Brazil. In addition, other emerging
countries are likely to become targets of skilled and technical emigration, like China,
particularly if some encouraging factors are brought together (increased investment,
promotion of Mandarin learning, use of Macao as a gateway). Finally, traditional
destinations far less affected by the crisis (i.e. Canada) can also be reactivated, in
addition to the fact that migratory movements (such as temporary work at various
destinations) by many Portuguese professionals are not just expected to be maintained
but to increase.
In terms of flows, predictions point to relatively high annual numbers in absolute terms
(between 75 000 and 100 000), corresponding to about 1.3-1.8% of Portuguese
workers, of whom an increasing number will have intermediate and higher education
qualifications (although they may not be the actual majority), which means they will
alternate between staying in Portugal or work abroad during the year. In short, it
appears there is a dual diversification trend - i) one in terms of emigration destinations,
mitigated by the fact that the Portuguese social networks act as drivers of movements
heading to traditional destinations, ii) the profiles of emigrants, attenuated by the
relatively low qualifications amongst older people9.
While these figures may, at first glance, be seen as almost dramatic, in economic (in
terms of workforce) and demographic terms, as happened in the 1960s and in the early
1970s, such an interpretation should be subject to closer examination. Indeed,
globalization and the European integration contexts currently delineate a situation that
is completely different from the one that prevailed forty or fifty years ago. This means
that open and peripheral small-scale economies, such as the Portuguese one, are
inevitably forced to become both receivers and senders of workforce, in the framework
of reinforced economic interdependence and international mobility of labour force,
particularly in the free movement area, but not limited to it.
Given the inevitability of emigration, at last in the short and medium term, the
challenge is how it should be incorporated into national policies. If the option is to
"disguise" the outflows (given that emigration means backwardness and attests the
reality of unemployment, etc.), relegating them to the periphery of the political agenda
and not creating the necessary conditions for a movement quality (recognition of the
added value brought about by financial remittances, in addition to added value
associated with the experience and skills of the qualifications of young emigrants;
enforcement of agreements between Portuguese and foreign companies and research
centres that have emigrants as a connection point; maintenance of consular services to
ensure a good service to the communities; enforcement of agreements with the
9 According to INE, in 2008 people over 44 years of age accounted for about 16% of the flow (Fig.2).
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Portugal 2010: The return of the country of emigration?
Jorge Malheiros
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Confederation of Portuguese Speaking Countries - CPLP with regard to migration ...),
then the loss can be significant.
If, however, emigration occupies a visible place on the political agenda - which also
means conferring it respect and public social recognition, - and if Portugal recognizes
the existence of a major "mobile nation" that may contribute to the development of the
country, then emigrants can become an asset that will assist Portugal in the difficult
process of national economic and self-esteem recovery.
How to cite this Note
Malheiros, Jorge (2011). "Portugal 2010: The Return of the country of emigration?".
Notes and Reflections, JANUS.NET e-journal of International Relations, Vol. 2, N.º 1,
Spring 2011. Consulted [online] on date of last visit,
observare.ual.pt/janus.net/en_vol2_n1_not3.
