<p>An alternative answer, which is based on the (certainly valid) answer from Giskard: People from "poorer" countries tend to migrate to richer countries, because they often equate wealth with happiness. Both terms might be connected in a way but they are definitely not the same.</p>

<p>In Germany, we have a lot of migrants from all over the world. It is a growing topic in society and politics, that these migrants are often unhappy here and do not settle in a long run. The more their original culture differs from ours, the less the chance they will be happy and integrate. Maybe now they have more money than before but what they lost is their true wealth: Their cultural daily life, home, in most cases their friends and relatives and many more things. As a result, migrants who do not integrate hit the economy very hard.</p>

<p>So my answer to your question is: Migration often takes place because of false conceptions of how life would be and what brings happiness.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-11T15:46:40.373Z
It may not be a question of wealth, but finding a job at all.
Peter Mortensen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-11T15:59:55.590Z
For sure there are plenty of motivations, like finding personal fullfillment in a job. I was just trying to illustrate that economics and psychology are deeply connected when it comes to migration. There's plenty of discussion going on in Germany since the migrant crisis began in 2015. Migrants begin to talk about their former conceptions and how reality hit hard lateron.
Rome
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-11T14:20:35.753Z
2020-05-11T17:48:24.820Z
2020-05-11T17:48:24.820Z
Rome
<p>As you write, fertility rate explains most of it, and immigration explains the rest.</p>

<p>People tend to migrate to richer countries, and Portugal is below average EU income. (Portugal is an EU member. The EU has freedom of movement, the citizens of any member state can relocate to other member states and work there.) Real per capita GDP is 30% less than in its neighbor Spain, and almost 50% less than in Germany.</p>

<p><a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sdg_08_10/default/table?lang=en" rel="noreferrer">Eurostat Real GDP per capita table</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-11T14:39:14.193Z
Also, there seems to be a concentration of wealth in the regions around a few larger cities (mainly Lisboa, Porto), so for the majority of the people who live in more rural areas, the numbers are even worse. And if they uproot their families to move to a region with more wealth and more jobs anyway, then why not go the whole distance and move to a different country with even more (perceived) opportunities, especially for younger people who are likely to speak passable English?
Jörg W Mittag
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-11T15:03:35.660Z
Good answer, Portugal is a perfect example of the brain drain phenomena.  It's also not technically a middle income country but it shows a lot of similarities to countries in the 'middle income trap'
eps
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-11T15:25:08.800Z
Is Portugal poorer than Poland and Hungary?
user366312
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-11T16:18:47.997Z
@user366312 Sorry, I don't think I understand the point of this comment. 1. You can look up the answer in the table I linked. 2. Both of these countries' populations are also shrinking.
Giskard
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-11T16:32:50.267Z
You said: *... and Portugal is below average EU income.* I asked: 
"Is Portugal poorer than Poland or Hungary?"
user366312
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-11T17:43:41.183Z
@user366312 I am sorry, I still do not see how these two are related. Yes, Portugal is below average EU income. No, Portugal is not poorer than Poland or Hungary, which as you can see from the table, are even further below the average. What is your point? Please elaborate.
Giskard
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-11T21:08:03.730Z
I'm surprised industries aren't relocating to Portugal to (ahem!) "take advantage of" their pro-employer wage levels. Perhaps moving heavy industry such as steel mills, ship yards, or car factories wouldn't be possible, but moving call centers or lower-investment manufacturing plants such as auto/truck tires, printing plants, and similar would be do-able.
Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-12T01:47:47.897Z
@BobJarvis-ReinstateMonica Market failures in action.
probably_someone
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-12T12:24:29.823Z
@BobJarvis-ReinstateMonica call centres require language skills, and people with those language skills are well-placed to emigrate, so the savings wouldn't be as great.  Many of the other things, if they can be moved to Portgual, can be moved to even cheaper countries. Quite a lot of my daughter's books are printed in China, for example; her books account for the majority of recent printings in the house.  Cheaper tyres come from the Far East already and [Michelin (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin#History) make tyres in quite a few countries including  Poland
Chris H
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-12T13:33:37.093Z
@ChrisH - pretty soon we're all going to fired and all production will be moved to Antarctica where the work will be done by trained penguins. They work for fish, and they're just so gosh-darned cute! (And yes, I'm kidding...about the jobs, I mean - not about the "cute"... :-)
Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-05-11T07:28:15.993Z
2020-05-11T07:28:15.993Z
Giskard
<p><a href="https://www.axios.com/world-population-countries-growing-shrinking-aed7ae63-7787-4551-bcf4-c3759016ac3f.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Where the world's population is growing and shrinking</a></p>

<p>Apart from a low fertility rate, why is the Portuguese population declining?</p>

<nonexpert><population-economics><demographics><portugal>
Why are Portuguese migrating out of Portugal?
user366312
# Why are Portuguese migrating out of Portugal?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-05-11)

[Where the world's population is growing and shrinking](https://www.axios.com/world-population-countries-growing-shrinking-aed7ae63-7787-4551-bcf4-c3759016ac3f.html)

Apart from a low fertility rate, why is the Portuguese population declining?

**Tags:** nonexpert, population-economics, demographics, portugal


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-05-11. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

As you write, fertility rate explains most of it, and immigration explains the rest.

People tend to migrate to richer countries, and Portugal is below average EU income. (Portugal is an EU member. The EU has freedom of movement, the citizens of any member state can relocate to other member states and work there.) Real per capita GDP is 30% less than in its neighbor Spain, and almost 50% less than in Germany.

[Eurostat Real GDP per capita table](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/sdg_08_10/default/table?lang=en)

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Also, there seems to be a concentration of wealth in the regions around a few larger cities (mainly Lisboa, Porto), so for the majority of the people who live in more rural areas, the numbers are even worse. And if they uproot their families to move to a region with more wealth and more jobs anyway, then why not go the whole distance and move to a different country with even more (perceived) opportunities, especially for younger people who are likely to speak passable English?  
> **username_5**: Good answer, Portugal is a perfect example of the brain drain phenomena.  It's also not technically a middle income country but it shows a lot of similarities to countries in the 'middle income trap'  
> **username_0**: Is Portugal poorer than Poland and Hungary?  
> **username_3**: @username_0 Sorry, I don't think I understand the point of this comment. 1. You can look up the answer in the table I linked. 2. Both of these countries' populations are also shrinking.  
> **username_0**: You said: *... and Portugal is below average EU income.* I asked:  "Is Portugal poorer than Poland or Hungary?"  
> **username_3**: @username_0 I am sorry, I still do not see how these two are related. Yes, Portugal is below average EU income. No, Portugal is not poorer than Poland or Hungary, which as you can see from the table, are even further below the average. What is your point? Please elaborate.  
> **username_6**: I'm surprised industries aren't relocating to Portugal to (ahem!) "take advantage of" their pro-employer wage levels. Perhaps moving heavy industry such as steel mills, ship yards, or car factories wouldn't be possible, but moving call centers or lower-investment manufacturing plants such as auto/truck tires, printing plants, and similar would be do-able.  
> **username_7**: @BobJarvis-ReinstateMonica Market failures in action.  
> **username_8**: @BobJarvis-ReinstateMonica call centres require language skills, and people with those language skills are well-placed to emigrate, so the savings wouldn't be as great.  Many of the other things, if they can be moved to Portgual, can be moved to even cheaper countries. Quite a lot of my daughter's books are printed in China, for example; her books account for the majority of recent printings in the house.  Cheaper tyres come from the Far East already and [Michelin (Wikipedia)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin#History) make tyres in quite a few countries including  Poland  
> **username_6**: @username_8 - pretty soon we're all going to fired and all production will be moved to Antarctica where the work will be done by trained penguins. They work for fish, and they're just so gosh-darned cute! (And yes, I'm kidding...about the jobs, I mean - not about the "cute"... :-)  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-05-11. Score: 1

An alternative answer, which is based on the (certainly valid) answer from username_3: People from "poorer" countries tend to migrate to richer countries, because they often equate wealth with happiness. Both terms might be connected in a way but they are definitely not the same.

In Germany, we have a lot of migrants from all over the world. It is a growing topic in society and politics, that these migrants are often unhappy here and do not settle in a long run. The more their original culture differs from ours, the less the chance they will be happy and integrate. Maybe now they have more money than before but what they lost is their true wealth: Their cultural daily life, home, in most cases their friends and relatives and many more things. As a result, migrants who do not integrate hit the economy very hard.

So my answer to your question is: Migration often takes place because of false conceptions of how life would be and what brings happiness.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: It may not be a question of wealth, but finding a job at all.  
> **username_1**: For sure there are plenty of motivations, like finding personal fullfillment in a job. I was just trying to illustrate that economics and psychology are deeply connected when it comes to migration. There's plenty of discussion going on in Germany since the migrant crisis began in 2015. Migrants begin to talk about their former conceptions and how reality hit hard lateron.  

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