Americans in Portugal
Between 2015 and 2020, Portugal had a decrease of 181.448 people in their population. That negative variation of almost 2% contrasts with the increase of immigrants living in the country. At the same period, the number of immigrants raised more than 70% from 388.731 in 2015 to 662.905 in 2020 (+ 273.364 people).
The cross analysis shows that immigrants represented 3.7% of the total population in 2015 and, after 5 years, this percentual reached 6.5% in 2020. Although it is an impressive increase of the immigrant's participation, there is still room to get this number higher given that countries like US, UK, Germany, Spain, Belgium, and Sweden have more than 15% of their population of immigrants.
According to the SEF report, in 2020 the top-10 nationalities living in Portugal were: Brazil, UK, Cabo Verde, Romania, Ukraine, Italy, China, France, India and Angola. Between 2017 and 2020, the Brazilians, Italians and British increased over 100%, duplicating their population in Portugal.
Talking about Golden Visa's in Portugal, the numbers show us a new country, that didn't appear much when related to general visas. The top-3 nationalities that request the Portuguese Golden Visa is: China, Brazil and USA, in this order. The USA community in Portugal is increasing year by year, accordingly the statistics. At the street is also normal to see couples of North Americans citizens that made Portugal their home.
Where Americans live in Portugal?
The Portuguese strategy and study office, on their last report, showed the top-3 cities that Americans live in Portugal, which is: Lisbon, Faro (Algarve) and Porto. Lisbon wins this dispute by far, being the most popular city for Americans. The warm climate and an average low cost of living make Portugal a hot spot for a change, especially Lisbon. Beside the warm climate, Lisbon also offers a big city atmosphere, with good restaurants, several places to go, five stars hotels and big hospitality. The biggest advantage is the language, is common to see people talking in English, French, Italian and Portuguese at the principals point of the city.
Is the currency a barrier to Americans lives in Portugal?
The euro (EUR) is the currency of the 17 countries of the European Union. This is not different in Portugal. On the other hand, official currency of USA is the US dollar (USD). In a simple comparison, considering an exchange rate of today,we have 1 USD for 0.92 EUR. Taking into account the small difference and the low prices of Portugal, the Americans living in Portugal don't lose purchasing power.
Which type of visa the Americans choose?
Accordingly to the statistics the Americans living in Portugal choose the Golden Visa. It's a specifically type of visa and one of the most expensive, as you can see in this article. However, has been growing the requests of the D7 visa by Americans, considering their income of retirement. The Portuguese consulates at USA has been accepting this type of visa request with no big difficulty and it's expected to see more and more Americans living in Portugal under the D7 visa. If you're American and want to learn more about this type of visa and where is the best place to live here in Portugal, get in touch with us.