According to the findings of Portugal's Immigration Barometer, released last week by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation (FFMS), 52.2% of people in Portugal believe that immigrants receive more in benefits than they contribute to the system. At the same time, 68% of respondents said they believe immigrants are essential to the national economy. 

Official data shows that in 2023, foreign workers contributed €2.677 billion to the national economy and benefited from social benefits worth €483 million, leaving a positive balance of close to €2.2 billion. According to Professor Cátia Batista (NOVA SBE), limiting immigration would have “a very strong and disastrous impact on our economy” due to the high dependence that certain sectors of activity, such as tourism or agriculture, have on foreign labour. In addition, the president of the Confederation of Farmers of Portugal (CAP) recently said that the country has “a chronic shortage of labour [that] is only compensated by foreigners” and asked the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA) to speed up the processing of pending residence / employment applications.

Regarding what Portugal should do to integrate those arriving from abroad, experts are unanimous: it is necessary to invest in integration policies. “The path to integration can only be successful if the issue of immigration is not treated with sensationalism and inflated figures.”

The survey was conducted between 13 July and 30 August 2024. A total of 1 072 individuals - who were born with Portuguese citizenship, speak Portuguese, are aged 18 or older and live in mainland Portugal - participated.