The study, “Three Decades of European Portugal: Balance and Perspectives”, reveals that the country’s economic woes have also led to an almost unprecedented exodus of nationals from Portugal.

Researchers, led by the economist Augusto Mateus, found that despite Eastern Europeans dominating discussions on immigration within in the EU, Portugal is the member state with the highest proportionate number of migrants living in another EU country.

Similarly, Portugal too has the sixth highest number of emigrants in the world when taking into account the percentage of the population which has left to seek employment or better economic opportunities elsewhere.

However, Portugal is the second least popular destination for immigrants in the 28-member EU, research showed.

Overall, half a million fewer people currently live in Portugal than in 1986. The population peaked between 2008 and 2010, at 10.6 million, and now stands below 10.5 million. EU projections estimate that falling to below 10 million by 2030 and nine million by 2050.

The report, which was unveiled on Wednesday, took an in-depth look at the impact of the country’s accession to the then European Economic Community in 1986.

It found that five million people of Portuguese origin are currently living abroad, while a further two million nationals have also in recent years purchased one-way tickets out of the country.

A reason for the mass migration of Portuguese could be attributed to the fact that, according to the study, the Portuguese GDP per capita fell seven percent in relation to other EU members during the period 2010 to 2013. Based on this finding, researchers concluded that the Portuguese standard of living has regressed by more than 20 years.

This reverse in the country’s economic fortunes is attributed to Portugal’s severe bailout programme, the financial crisis, the increased pace of globalisation and the enlargement of the European Union to include nations from the former Soviet bloc.

To add to the stumbling blocks of Portugal’s economic well-being is the revelation that it also recorded the highest tax increases between 2010 and 2013 of any member state, rising by 11 percent over the four years in question.

The state coffers were mostly boosted by revenue obtained from direct taxes, especially from IRS, where it rose by more than a third between 2010 and 2013, totalling 60 billion euros or three-quarters of the bailout funds Portugal requested in 2011 and which was paid back earlier this year.

On a positive note, exports have been boosted as a result of Portugal’s inclusion into the single European community, and now represent 41 percent of the country’s GDP, up 16 percent from the figure 28 years ago. However, imports have also risen during the same period and climbed by 12 percent to a figure of 39 percent in 2013, which is the final year researchers took into account for the purposes of the study.

Tourism has also risen in prominence, and now accounts for around a sixth of the country’s GDP and almost a fifth of jobs.