More than 1.2 million people (16.1%) have suffered discrimination in Portugal, especially the Roma (51.3%), the National Statistics Institute (INE) revealed today.
This is followed by people who are black (44.2%) or “of mixed race” (40.4%), according to the results of the Survey on the Living Conditions, Origins and Trajectories of the Resident Population in Portugal (ICOT), presented by INE as an unprecedented statistical project in Portugal.
Discrimination also affected the unemployed (24.9%), younger people (18.9%), educated people (18.3%) and women (17.5%), according to the categories established by INE.
“More than 4.9 million people (65.1%) believe there is discrimination in Portugal and 2.7 million (35.9%) have witnessed this type of situation,” says INE.
Ethnic group, skin color, sexual orientation and territory of origin are “the most relevant factors” in perceived and witnessed discrimination, according to the same source.
The survey began in January, with a view to covering more than 35,000 homes, to address, among other issues, the ethnic-racial origin of people who have lived in Portugal for at least 12 months, and comes after the body decided not to include a question on the subject in the 2021 Census, as the majority of the members of the working group set up in 2019 by the government to assess the issue wanted.
According to the results of the study, people between the ages of 18 and 74 identified themselves, in terms of ethnic origin or belonging, as follows: 6.4 million with the white ethnic group; 169.2 thousand with the black group; 56.6 thousand with the Asian group; 47.5 thousand with the Roma ethnic group; and 262.3 thousand with the group of mixed origin or belonging.
“The population that identifies itself as Asian, of mixed origin or belonging, black and gypsy has a younger age structure than that which identifies itself as white,” said INE.
In Portugal, 1.4 million people have an immigrant background, of which 947.5 thousand are first-generation immigrants, most represented in the Algarve (31.0% and 24.2%, respectively) and Área Metropolitana de Lisboa (29.2% and 18.8%, respectively).
“The population that identifies with the black, Asian and mixed ethnic groups has the highest proportions of immigrant background (90.3%, 83.7% and 69.2%, respectively),” reads the document.
The majority of first-generation immigrants (65.2%) have lived in Portugal for more than 10 years. Family and professional reasons are “determining factors in coming to Portugal”.
More than three quarters (76.3%) say they feel strongly or very strongly attached to Portugal. Just over half (53.5%) feel the same way about Europe.
“The population with an immigrant background and first-generation immigrants have a greater connection to Portugal than to their family’s country of origin or the country where they were born,” the statisticians emphasized.
More than 4.7 million people aged 18 to 74 were employed (62.4%), with the ethnic groups of mixed origin or belonging (67.9%), blacks (64.3%) and whites (62.9%) standing out.
“More than two million people had to work while studying and 1.7 million were forced to leave school earlier than they would have liked,” said the authors of the study.
In addition to Portuguese, 486,400 people spoke another language at home until the age of 15. “Today, 661,700 speak Portuguese at home and another language.”
Languages from other European countries and languages or dialects from the Portuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP) are among the most widely spoken.
The majority of the population in the survey’s reference age group lives in the North (35.5%), followed by the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (27.3%) and the Center (21.2%).
“The geographical distribution of the population according to ethnic group shows, however, a different distribution pattern in the territory: while the population that identifies with the white group follows the pattern observed in the total population, the population that identifies with the black (69.9%), mixed origin or belonging (48.4%) and Asian (34.7%) groups is mostly concentrated in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area,” specified INE.
Around three quarters of the population (74.3%) live in predominantly urban areas, “where the following ethnic groups stand out in particular, with higher than average figures: black (91.7%), mixed origin or belonging (88.7%) and Asian (80.3%)”.
