Historical resident population (before the 2012 Administrative Reform) The resident population recorded according to Censuses carried over the years is shown in the following tables for the two parishes that today constitute Areeiro. It is noteworthy that the ancient parish of São João de Deus lost 15,145 people from 1960 to 2011 or 60.72% of its 1960 population, not having recorded a single population gain since 1960. Similarly, the ancient parish of Alto do Pina lost 2,237 people or 17.8% of its population from 1960 to 2011, with major population losses recorded in the nineties (-19%).
Current resident population (after the 2012 Administrative Reform) In the 2021 Portuguese Census was recorded the first demographic growth of the parish since 1960. In particular, from 2011 to 2021 the parish gained 1,029 people, recording a growth of +5.11%.
Demographic statistics •
Age The last censuses show that the parish's population is ageing at a fast pace: in 2021 21.25% of the population was below 25 and, at the same time, almost a quarter (23.92%) of the residents was 65 or older. •
Religion The parish is predominantly catholic and 67.99% of the population aged 15 or above are followers of a Christian or Jeovah's Witness denomination as of 2021. Around 27.96% of the population doesn't practice a religion and is thus non religious. The presence of minor religions such as Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism (4.05% of the population amongst the three) is probably due to an increasing community of people coming from
India,
Pakistan,
Bangladesh or
Nepal. •
Immigration In 2021, 7.86% of the population of the parish was constituted by foreigners. In particular, amongst men foreigners were 8.95% of the total. This means that in Areeiro there are 1,663 resident foreigners, a sharp increase from 2011, when there were 1,071 resident foreigners (5.32%). Since the foreign population increased by 592 people from 2011 to 2021 and given that the total population of the parish increased by 1,029 units in the same timespan, it is noteworthy that the total population growth was due for more than half to the increase in the number of resident foreigners, thus not counting people who have acquired Portuguese nationality in the meantime. The largest group of foreigners is constituted by the
Brazilians (540 people or +53.41% since 2011), PALOP countries (170 people or +17.24% since 2011), Chinese (154 people or +50.98% since 2011) and people from the
Indian Subcontinent, most notably
Nepalis and
Bangladeshis, totaling 261 people, or recording an increase of +455.32% since 2011. Dealing with the foreign-born population, 15.27% of the parish's population was born abroad as of 2021. The most common countries of birth were
PALOP countries (1,066 people), Brazil (813 people) and the Indian Subcontinent (325 people). Of the Portuguese nationals born abroad, the most common countries of birth were PALOP countries (908 people) and Brazil (267 people), all countries having ancient historical ties with Portugal as well as a rooted
migration history towards the country, and who are, thus, more likely to have acquired Portuguese citizenship along the years. Moreover, as of 2021 in the parish there were 2,410 people who have entered Portugal after 2010, constituting 11.39% of the population. Of those with recent migrant background, 23.03% were Portuguese nationals returning from a period of emigration abroad. Amongst the Portuguese, 3,753 had already lived abroad as of 2021 (19.25% of the Portuguese population). The majority of those having lived in
Angola and
Mozambique (1,194 people) entered Portugal in the Seventies (725 people or 60.72%), following the
independence of the two former colonies (so called
retornados). Those coming from countries hosting large Portuguese emigrant communities such as
France, Spain,
Germany, Switzerland,
Luxembourg or
Belgium (724 people) have mostly entered Portugal after 1991 (72.24%), probably due to the development of the
Portuguese economy since its
accession to the EU. 37.59% of the
Portuguese nationals having lived in the
UK and residing in the parish, has left the UK after 2016, (date of the
Brexit referendum). If the whole population (regardless of the nationality held) is taken into account, then 25.00% of the parish's population has already lived abroad for at least one year as of 2021, with EU countries, PALOP countries, Brazil and the United Kingdom being the most commonly cited countries of previous residence. == Economy and Social conditions ==