Portugal has a long, winding story of coming and going. Fishermen once chased cod across the North Atlantic, farmhands crossed oceans to Brazil and New England, and, more recently, nurses, engineers, and hospitality workers have packed their bags for cities around Europe. The reasons vary with each generation, but the basic calculation has been similar for decades. People leave in search of higher wages, stable careers, and a different pace of life, often with the intention of helping family back home or building savings before coming back. Today, Portuguese emigration is mostly European, shaped by the reality of free movement in the European Union and by shifting labor markets in neighboring countries. This article looks at where people from Portugal go now, which countries host the largest communities of European Portuguese outside Portugal, and how those patterns have changed.
The Big Picture – Most Portuguese Emigrants Live in Europe
The best single snapshot of the diaspora comes from the Emigration Observatory’s Factbook, which brings data together from national statistical offices, the United Nations, Eurostat, and the OECD. The Observatory tracks both annual flows and the “stock,” meaning people born in Portugal who live abroad. By 2020, the stock was just above two million and roughly 74% lived elsewhere in Europe, a share that has risen over the last three decades as flows have shifted from the Americas and Africa to nearby European destinations.
That geographic shift has practical causes. The EU’s freedom of movement lowers the barriers to work, study, and residence across member states. Wage gaps remain substantial between Portugal and northern Europe, and certain sectors in countries like Switzerland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the Nordics have recruited actively. The UK was a top magnet during the 2010s, though Brexit cooled the trend. In fact, the Observatory notes a marked decline in emigration to the UK after 2016, with Spain, France, and Switzerland taking the lead in 2022.
Where Do Portuguese from Portugal Live Abroad Today? The Largest Communities by Country
When we talk about “largest communities,” it helps to be precise. Below, we focus on people born in Portugal who now live abroad. That definition captures first-generation emigrants rather than their descendants. Using this yardstick, the countries with the biggest Portuguese-born populations are as follows.
France Remains the Number One Destination by Stock
France has the largest population of Portuguese-born residents in the world, just under 600,000 according to recent estimates. Many families arrived in waves during the 1960s and 1970s, and the flow has continued in smaller but steady numbers ever since. The community is nationwide, with the biggest clusters around Paris, Île-de-France, and in industrial regions that needed labor during earlier building booms.
Switzerland Is a Long-Standing Second
A sizable Portuguese community has developed in Switzerland since the late twentieth century. Today, there are about 200,000 Portuguese-born residents, and the country consistently ranks among the top destinations for new arrivals thanks to demand in construction, hospitality, health care, and services, as well as high wages that allow people to save and send money home.
The United States and Canada Have Legacy Communities
Across the Atlantic, the United States hosts roughly 180,000 Portuguese-born residents, concentrated in places like Massachusetts and Rhode Island as well as California and New Jersey. The current Portuguese-born figure is much smaller than the total number of Americans who claim Portuguese ancestry, which tops one million, because many families have now lived in the U.S. for generations. Canada’s Portuguese-born community stands at about 130,000, primarily in Ontario and Quebec.
The United Kingdom Is Still High Ranking Despite Post-Brexit Declines
In the 2010s, the UK became a top destination for Portuguese jobseekers. By the early 2020s, the stock of Portuguese-born residents grew to the mid-100,000s. After Brexit, new arrivals fell sharply, and some Portuguese returned to the continent, but the existing community remains among the largest in Europe.
Brazil, Germany, Spain, and Luxembourg Are Significant Portuguese Hubs
Brazil hosts a historic and culturally close community of Portuguese-born residents, which total around 140,000 in available estimates, although the most recent solid stock figure often cited comes from 2010. Germany’s Portuguese-born population is above 100,000, Spain sits just under that, and tiny Luxembourg punches far above its size, with a Portuguese-born community surpassing 70,000. In fact, Portuguese nationals form the single largest foreign community in Luxembourg.
Belgium and the Netherlands Round Out the Top European Destinations
Belgium’s Portuguese-born population is near 40,000, while the Netherlands has surpassed 20,000 and has been growing as technology, logistics, and service jobs expand. These smaller stocks still matter in regional labor markets and maintain tight links with Portugal through remittances and frequent travel.
Where Are People Going Now?
Stock numbers change slowly. To see movement in real time, it is better to look at flows, which represents the number of Portuguese citizens registering as immigrants in destination countries in a given year. According to the Emigration Observatory’s 2023 Factbook, Spain was the top destination for Portuguese emigrants in 2022 with 11,001 entries, followed by France (10,216), Switzerland (9,948), the United Kingdom (7,941), and Germany (5,935). That ranking reflects a broader post-pandemic recovery and the UK’s drop from its former top spot.
Flow patterns can shift year to year. Reporting in 2025 noted that Switzerland returned to the top of the table in 2023 with more than 12,000 Portuguese arrivals, although Spain and France remained high on the list. The Netherlands has also gained traction recently, surpassing the UK in some new-arrival counts as job opportunities drew younger, more educated migrants to Dutch cities.
The Biggest European Portuguese Populations Outside Portugal
If you are interested specifically in European Portuguese communities outside Portugal, Europe clearly dominates. Based on the most recent stock figures compiled by the Emigration Observatory, the largest European hubs of Portuguese-born residents are:
France – just under 600,000
Switzerland – about 200,000
United Kingdom – about 150,000 to 160,000
Germany – about 115,000
Spain – about 90,000 to 95,000
Luxembourg – more than 70,000
Belgium – near 40,000
The Netherlands – above 20,000
These are stock counts, so they include long-settled families as well as recent arrivals. They also come from different reference years depending on how frequently each country updates country-of-birth tables, so exact totals will not all march in lockstep. The relative ordering, however, is quite stable, and the European share of the Portuguese diaspora has grown to nearly three-quarters over the past three decades.
Luxembourg deserves a special note. Despite its small size, it has one of the highest proportions of foreign residents in the EU, and Portuguese nationals form the largest single foreign community there. Portuguese people have been central to the country’s construction, services, and logistics sectors, with robust community institutions, Portuguese-language media, and festivals that mirror those back home.
A Note on “Portuguese Communities” Versus “Portuguese Ancestry”
When people ask where “the largest Portuguese communities” are, it is important to distinguish Portuguese-born residents from people who claim Portuguese ancestry. In the United States, for example, around 1.3 million residents report Portuguese roots, but only a fraction were born in Portugal. That difference reflects old migration waves and subsequent generations born in the U.S. The same distinction applies in Brazil, South Africa, Venezuela, and Canada, where historic ties produced large communities whose Portuguese connection is cultural as much as it is migratory.
What Changed After the Financial Crisis and Brexit?
The 2008–2014 crisis spurred a surge in emigration, especially among young adults. The UK boomed as a destination during that period because of abundant service jobs and the appeal of the English language. After 2016, the UK tightened entry rules and many Portuguese shifted to Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, and the Netherlands. The Observatory’s high-level summary shows the UK’s flow falling steeply by 2022, with Spain back in the top spot for annual entries, while Switzerland and France remained attractive as well. The pandemic temporarily disrupted movement, but by 2022 and 2023, the numbers had rebounded, albeit with a different mix of destinations than a decade earlier.
What About Remittances and Return Migration?
Remittances are a good proxy for the depth of ties between the diaspora and Portugal. Total remittances have hovered around a few billion euros a year in recent times, with large flows coming from European hosts like France and Switzerland and also from Angola due to corporate assignments in oil and construction. The pattern of money flowing back home supports mortgages, home renovations, and family expenses, and it often foreshadows return migration when people decide to invest in a business or a home in Portugal after years abroad.
Return migration itself is common. Some Portuguese go abroad for a defined period, save aggressively, and head back to start a company, buy a house, or raise children near grandparents. Others settle for the long term but keep their options flexible. The more open the labor markets across Europe become, the more likely it is that Portuguese careers will include periods abroad followed by returns to Lisbon, Porto, Braga, or Faro.
A European Diaspora with Global Roots
So, where do Portuguese from Portugal go? The headline answer today is Europe. The United States and Canada also remain major hubs for the first generation, while Brazil stands out as a cultural sibling with deep historical ties. The precise numbers shift as economies rise or slow, but the map is clear. Europe is the center of gravity for the Portuguese diaspora in the twenty-first century, and those communities in turn tie Portugal to jobs, ideas, and opportunities across the continent.
