Emigration to Macau in 2021 was the lowest since 2000

The number of Portuguese who emigrated to Macau in 2021 was the lowest since 2000, this being the third largest emigration to the territory, according to the Emigration Report.

The document, which will be presented today at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in Lisbon, was drawn up by the Emigration Observatory, a research center at Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa.

According to information collected and worked on by this centre, in 2021 18 Portuguese entered Macau, the lowest figure since 2000, when only four Portuguese entered.

In 2020, 67 Portuguese had emigrated to Macau and, a year later, there were 18, mainly men (61.1%) and young people, with only 10.7% being over 65 years old.

Since 2000, the increase in the number of Portuguese in Macau has been progressive, until 2013, when there was a decrease until 2017, growing again occasionally in 2018, and decreasing in 2019 and 2020.

The authors of the document, which is based on data collected by the Emigration Observatory from the institutions responsible for immigration statistics, indicate that, in 2021, Portuguese arrivals represented 3.8% of total arrivals in Macau, which made this emigration the third largest for that country.

In the context of Portuguese emigration, Macau is the third country in the world with the highest percentage of Portuguese arrivals, compared to the total value of foreign arrivals.

In 2021, the number of Portuguese in this territory under Chinese administration totaled 2,213, 10% more than in 2016.

According to the report, “given Macau’s particular position in China, full access to citizenship in this Special Administrative Region passes through the acquisition of permanent resident status, not through the acquisition of nationality”, with no statistics available on the acquisition of the status of permanent resident.

With information from RTP