A recent interview by CNN Portugal with expert Catarina Reis Oliveira, a sociologist at the ISCSP-University of Lisboa, shed light on the inaccuracy of certain narratives around immigration and crime in the country and shared some more accurate statistics. 

Oliveira analysed a database of crimes recorded by Portuguese authorities and published by the country's Directorate-General of Justice Policy and concluded that “the idea that the increase in immigration brings more crime is a myth”.

Her analysis is based on the cross-comparison of crime data with immigrant numbers. The results show that in municipalities with the largest absolute number of foreign citizens, the number of crimes decreased between 2011 and 2023. Further, the crime ratio for total residents is lower in municipalities where the foreign population has more weight. These facts contradict claims recently made by an extreme right-wing party in Portugal about the relationship between crime and immigration.

According to Oliveira, the growing polarisation of opinions on migration across Portuguese society is the result of poor data reading. She notes that many variables show the importance of foreign workers to the sustainability of the country's social security system and the mitigation of population decline and ageing, and highlights the importance of ensuring that political decision makers are aware of these facts and statistics - as opposed to being led by popular narratives not grounded in reality - when designing public policies.

The foreign population in Portugal has seen a remarkable increas in the last 3 years, reaching more than 1 million immigrants in 2023. Foreign residents now represent 9.8% of the national population.