Portugal 4th oldest country in the world – Government approves longevity package

The Action Plan for Active and Healthy Ageing was published yesterday in the Official Gazette. It includes 135 measures to promote health and well-being, autonomy and independent living. The budget is €1.3 Billion

The plan had already been announced by the Minister of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho, in March last year, during a meeting of the Advisory Board of the Expresso Longevidade project. With the aim of mitigating the impact of demographic changes and an ageing population – Portugal is currently the fourth oldest country in the world – the Action Plan for Active and Healthy Ageing (PAES) was approved by the Council of Ministers and published yesterday in the Diário da República.

There are a total of 135 measures divided into six pillars: Health and well-being; Autonomy and independent living; Development and lifelong learning; Healthy working life throughout the life cycle; Income and the economy of ageing; Participation in society.

“Demographic evolution has led to a very significant increase in the aging rate of the Portuguese population, which in 2021 was 178.4 elderly people per 100 young people,” the document states. However, the Government recognizes that the increase in Average Life Expectancy is not accompanied by an increase in health after the age of 65. Statistics show that there are countries where citizens live for 12 years without illness, while Portugal is down to seven – the European average is set at 10 years.

This is one of the most important reasons for approving this action plan, whose strategy is in line with the European Commission’s policies and the Green Paper on Ageing. “The ultimate aim of this Action Plan is to maintain and recover autonomy and optimize quality of life, while maximizing the economic and social opportunities created by an evolving society,” the January 12 document states.

With a budget of €1300 million – funds from the PRR, OE and the Portugal 2030 agenda – the six pillars of action are subdivided into areas of intervention such as disease prevention, improving integrated and long-term care, empowering caregivers and improving the conditions of the care provided, promoting independent living and creating safe and more elderly-friendly environments, participation in the labor market and adapting companies’ careers to older people, as well as a strong commitment to the aging economy.

Appointed by the government in 2023 as director of PAES, cardiologist Nuno Marques – who also led the National Observatory on Ageing – recently told Expresso that the government’s strategy represents an unprecedented intervention in longevity. “Part of the measures are aimed at the elderly population, but the plan aims to act over time, raising awareness among younger people and with a strong component in the area of prevention.” The effects of the PAES will therefore be visible over a period of two decades.

One of the measures left out of this plan is partial retirement, which would allow you to accumulate your salary and make a smoother transition between the job market and inactive life. As this is an initiative that involves legislation, the Government does not currently have the capacity to produce legal changes for this purpose. Still, Nuno Marques believes that its implementation will happen with the next Government. Especially because PAES will have to be implemented until 2026, as it is financed mainly by community funds.

One thing seems certain: at the end of the cycle, António Costa’s Government promoted increases in old-age pensions. This January there was a 6% increase for lower pensions, between €301 and €1018. With regard to pensions above €1085 and up to €3055 the increase was €61 and for pensions above €3055 there was a minimum increase of €172. But the most important measure, argues the director of PAES, is related to the solidarity supplement for the elderly: a full convergence of this support above the poverty threshold was approved. In practice, there is an increase of €62.45 for each elderly person, which will benefit 150 thousand people over 65 years of age.