The foreign population residing in Portugal increased in 2021 for the sixth consecutive year, totalling 714,123 citizens, according to provisional data from the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF).

SEF data sent to the Lusa agency indicate that 714,123 foreign citizens resided in the country at the end of last year, 7.8 percent more than in 2020, when there were 662,095.

According to SEF, 2019 saw the biggest increase in foreigners living in Portugal, when there was an increase of 22.9%.

SEF says that the most representative nationalities are those from Brazil (209,072), followed by the United Kingdom (42,071), Cape Verde (35,913), India (30,995) and Italy (30,887).

Despite the increase in foreigners in Portugal, new residence permits granted to immigrants in 2021 decreased by almost 8% compared to the previous year.

According to the SEF, around 109,000 new residence permits were granted in 2021, while 118,124 had been granted in the previous year.

According to that security service, 13,027 Brazilians, 5,685 Indians and 1,876 Nepalese were granted residence permits for the exercise of professional activity.

Last year, residence permits were also granted to 5,307 Italians, 4,750 French and 3,937 Germans.

In terms of family reunification, when there are family members residing in Portugal, last year 8,482 residence permits were given to 8,492 Brazilians, 732 Angolans and 572 Indians.