Portugal: Migrants countribute enough to fund 17% of pensions

Lisbon: Data provided by the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security in Portugal show that foreign workers’ contributions to Portugal’s social security system are already sufficient to fund 17% of national pensions and retirements.

In 2023 the Portuguese social security system disbursed 15.8 billion euros in benefits, with immigrants to the country injecting 2.7 billion euros into that system.

The participation of foreign workers in the financing process of Portugal’s social security system has been growing year after year. According to Pedro Góis, professor of Economics at the University of Coimbra and technical director of the Observatory of Migration, this participation is fundamental to maintaining the sustainability of the system. In other words, this contribution of migrants guarantees that, for a longer period than expected, the government will not need to go into debt to pay insurance policyholders.

Between 2017 and 2022, the total number of foreigners in formal employment and therefore contributing to the social security system more than tripled, increasing from 166 000 to 534 000. This growth was mainly due to the flow of citizens from Brazil to Portugal: the Brazilian community is the largest migrant group in Portugal, and 85% of its members who are of working age are employed.