The scientific coordinator of the emigration Observatory stresses at the TSF forum that, contrary to what is thought, new emigrants are not the most qualified.
Portugal today has the highest emigration rate in Europe and one of the highest in the world, according to data advanced this Friday by the weekly Expresso, which cites the Atlas of Portuguese emigration study, which will be presented next week. At the TSF Forum, Rui Pena Pires, scientific coordinator of the emigration Observatory, says he is not at all surprised by these data.
“More than 20% of the Portuguese population lives outside Portugal, around 23%. More than a quarter of young people live outside Portugal, probably close to 30%. They live outside Portugal also more than a quarter, almost 30% of women of childbearing age and all this has an important impact on demography, has an immediate impact and has an impact in the medium term because with the immigration of women of childbearing age out of Portugal, increases the number of births of Portuguese outside Portugal and decreased the number of births of Portuguese mothers in Portugal, which is absolutely normal. Now we can’t be too surprised by what’s happening. We will always have emigration in this order of magnitude, between 50 thousand and 65 thousand people because Portugal is inserted in an area of free movement and is a less developed country than other countries in the European Union”, explained Rui Pena Pires to TSF.
The expert stresses that, contrary to what is thought, the new emigrants are not the most qualified.
“We have today the idea that our emigration is mostly made up of very qualified people and this is not true. It is true that skilled people emigrate at a higher rate than unskilled people, but the majority of our adult population does not have a degree, so it is a low-skilled population. In a few years it will cease to be so. The increase in the qualification of Portuguese emigrants is largely related to the increase in the qualification of the Portuguese population, but in recent years, most Portuguese emigrants who entered countries such as France, Germany, and Switzerland continue to be unlicensed”, clarified the scientific coordinator of the emigration Observatory.
Since 2001, on average, more than 75 thousand people a year have left Portugal. Between 2010 and 2019 there was the largest exodus.
The peak of emigration was even the year 2013, when 120 thousand Portuguese left in search of another life. The Coordinator of the emigration Observatory assumes that this Stampede will have consequences.
“Some of the shortages that form in the labour market result from this inability to replace those who leave with those who enter and, above all, to replace with the same qualifications. They will have some impact especially if they are not countered by an increase in immigration,” he added.