More than 1.2 million people have suffered discrimination in Portugal

 

Lisbon, 22 December 2022 (Lusa) – More than 1.2 million people (16.1%) have suffered discrimination in Portugal, especially Roma (51.3%), the National Statistics Institute (INE) revealed today.

Next are black people (44.2%) or “mixed people” (40.4%), according to the results of the Survey on Living Conditions, Origins and Trajectories of the Resident Population in Portugal (ICOT), presented by INE as an unprecedented statistical project in Portugal.

Discrimination also affected the unemployed (24.9%), younger people (18.9%), educated people (18.3%) and women (17.5%), according to the categories established by INE.

“More than 4.9 million people (65.1%) consider discrimination to exist in Portugal and 2.7 million (35.9%) have witnessed this type of situation”, says INE.

Ethnic group, skin colour, sexual orientation and territory of origin constitute “the most relevant factors” in perceived and witnessed discrimination, according to the same source.

The survey began in January, with a view to covering more than 35,000 homes, to address, among other issues, the ethnic-racial origin of people who have resided in Portugal for at least 12 months, and comes after the organization decided not to include in the 2021 Census a question on this matter, as intended by the majority of members of the working group created in 2019 by the Government to evaluate the issue.

According to the results of the work, people between 18 and 74 years old identified themselves, in terms of origin or ethnic belonging, as follows: 6.4 million with the white ethnic group; 169.2 thousand with the black group; 56.6 thousand with the Asian group; 47.5 thousand with the gypsy ethnic group; and 262.3 thousand with the group of mixed origin or belonging.

“The population that identifies as Asian, of mixed origin or belonging, black and gypsy has a younger age structure than that which identifies as white”, highlighted the INE.

In Portugal, 1.4 million people have an immigration path, of whom 947.5 thousand are first-generation immigrants, most represented in the Algarve regions (31.0% and 24.2%, respectively) and Lisbon Metropolitan Area (29 .2% and 18.8%, respectively).

“The population that identifies with the ethnic groups black, Asian and mixed origin or belonging has the highest proportions of immigration background (90.3%, 83.7% and 69.2%, respectively)”, reads the document .

The majority of first-generation immigrants (65.2%) have lived in Portugal for more than 10 years. Family and professional reasons are “determining when coming to Portugal”.

More than three quarters (76.3%) say they have a strong or very strong feeling of connection to Portugal. Just over half (53.5%) have the same feeling regarding Europe.

“The population with an immigration background and first-generation immigrants have a greater connection to Portugal than to the family’s country of origin or the country where they were born”, highlighted the statisticians.

More than 4.7 million people aged 18 to 74 were employed (62.4%), with emphasis on ethnic groups of mixed origin or belonging (67.9%), black (64.3%) and white (62 .9%).

“More than two million people had to work while studying and 1.7 million were forced to leave their studies earlier than they would have liked”, found the authors of the work.

In addition to Portuguese, 486.4 thousand people spoke another language at home up to the age of 15. “Currently, 661.7 thousand speak Portuguese at home and another language”.

The languages ​​of other European countries and languages ​​or dialects of Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP) are among the most spoken.

The population within the survey’s reference age range resides mainly in the North region (35.5%), followed by the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (27.3%) and the Center region (21.2%).

“The geographic distribution of the population according to ethnic group allows us to observe, however, a different pattern of distribution in the territory: while the population that identifies with the white group follows the pattern observed in the total population, the population that identifies with the black (69.9%), mixed origin or belonging (48.4%) and Asian (34.7%) groups are mainly concentrated in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area”, specified the INE.

Around three quarters of the population (74.3%) resides in predominantly urban areas, “where the following ethnic groups particularly stand out, with higher than average values: black (91.7%), mixed origin or belonging (88, 7%) and Asian (80.3%)”.