Structural Emigration: The Revival of Portuguese Outflows

During the last two centuries Portugal had witnessed continuous migration flows. Using data from different sources (both from the countries of destiny and from Portugal) we will show that over the past 30 years Portugal never stopped being a country of emigration and that in recent times these outflows have become more diversified in terms of countries of destinies and profiles of emigrants. Without neglecting the emigration flows before 2008, particular attention will be given to emigration flows that developed after the upsurge of the economic crisis. We will show that current Portuguese emigration is not exclusively due to an economic crisis but also due to a structural characteristic of the migration flows linked to migration and migration networks from the past and the anchorage on different migration systems. In a second part, we will reflect on both the relations of the Portuguese State with their emigrant communities, and the current political debates on the recent increase in emigration flows and their connection with economic crisis.