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More than half of people of gypsy ethnicity have already experienced discrimination
Survey on Living Conditions, Origins and Trajectories of Population Resident in Portugal
National gipsy day
More than half of people of gypsy ethnicity have already experienced discrimination - 2023
24 June 2024

Summary

According to the results of the Survey on Living Conditions, Origins and Trajectories of the Resident Population in Portugal (ICOT), carried out in 2023, 47,5 thousand people living in Portugal aged between 18 and 74 self-identified with the gypsy ethnic group.

The population of the gypsy ethnic group was comparatively younger (35.0% were aged between 18 and 34) than the total population (25.0%), with a higher share of women (56.6% compared to 51.7% in the total population), but with a lower level of education (91.9 % had completed, at most, lower secondary education compared to 45.7% in the total population).

Almost all of the people who self-identified as gypsy living in Portugal (88.1%) had no personal or family immigration trajectories.

People of gypsy ethnicity are more likely to favour spaces that are closer to them, such as the neighbourhood (57.7%), the town or city (63.2%), or the region where they live (66.3%), and in terms of social relationships they stand out with higher proportions of friends from the same social class (79.8%) and who live in the same neighbourhood or area (53.1%).

In the labour market, the gypsy population had a lower proportion of active people (61.3%, compared to 70.8% in the total population), and was mostly positioned in the first quintile of income distribution, i.e. in the 20% of the population with the lowest incomes (72.6%).

People of gypsy ethnicity generally rated their health as very good or good (62.0%), although with a higher proportion of chronic illnesses (38.1% to 31.9% in the total population).

This population group was well below the national average in terms of property ownership (30.6% vs. 70.8% of the total population) and thermal comfort in the dwelling (46.8% vs. 72.3%), as well as access to the internet (74.2% vs. 91.8%) and to a car (55.1% vs. 75.6%).

More than half of gypsy people (51.3%) have experienced discrimination in Portugal, a much higher number than in the total population (16.1%). More than four fifths (82.8%) said there was discrimination in the country and around three quarters (74.3%) considered that discrimination based on ethnic origin is frequent or very frequent (48.8% in the total population). More than half of the population in this ethnic group (52.7%) has witnessed discrimination (35.9 % in the total population).


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