The resident population in Portugal on the 31st December 2018 was estimated at 10,276,617 persons, a decrease of 14,410 since 2017. This resulted in a negative crude rate of increase of 0.14%. The trend of population decline remained, although it has been attenuated in the last two years.
The deceleration of the population decrease in 2018 occurred from the improvement in the net migration (from 4,886 persons in 2017 to 11,570 persons in 2018), since the negative natural increase deteriorated (from -23,432 in 2017 to -25,980 in 2018).
Demographic ageing in Portugal continues to rise: when compared to 2017, the population under the age of 15 has dropped to 1,407,566 (16,330 fewer people) and the population aged 65 and over has increased to 2,244,225 (30,951 more people), representing, respectively, 13.7% and 21.8% of the total population. The oldest population (aged 85 and over) increased to 310,274 (12,736 more people).
In 2018 one in two people residing in Portugal was over 45.2 years, which represents an increase of 4.4 years in relation to 2008.
In the future, the trends of population decline and demographic ageing continues. Portugal may lose population until 2080, from the current 10.3 million to 7.9 million residents, falling below the threshold of 10 million by 2033. The younger population could be below the threshold of 1.4 million already in 2019 (1,393,513) and below the threshold of 1 million by 2074 (995,647). The number of older people will increase from 2.2 in 2018 to 2.8 million in 2080.