Brazil still has the largest number of new residents in Portugal, with 5,700 in 2015, which is 15% of the total, followed by China, Romania, France and Cape Verde.

The number of people who acquired Portuguese nationality fell to 40,200 in 2015 (there were 52,400 applications), with Brazil and the Portuguese-speaking African countries representing 31% and 33% of all new Portuguese citizens.

The number of “Golden Visas”, which are residency visas granted to foreign investors, first introduced in 2013, fell to 800 in 2015 (plus 1,100 relatives).

The drop was due to the suspension of the Golden Visa programme for several months because of a criminal investigation into fraud and other crimes connected with the administrative process.

As regards emigration, 101,400 people emigrated in 2015 compared with 134,500 the year before.