8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Europe / Southern Europe

Born in Portugal

About 1 in 1,526 people born in 2023 started life in Portugal. A boy can expect to live 79 years and a girl 85, up from 56 and 61 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 1,526
odds of being born here
86,600 births · Ranked 111th of 230
79 / 85
years of life, boys / girls
Was 56 / 61 in 1950
$14,990
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 65th of 203 · extrapolated
61%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 24 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 144 in every 1,000 births to 3.2.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth79.4 years for boys, 85.1 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 53.2 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year116,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people5.8World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles98%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.5%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year16 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 3.2 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.5, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
01234195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.51UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth31.7 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 42 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2023
7%Poorest fifth
13%Second
17%Middle
22%Fourth
42%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $14,990 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth42% / 7% (2023)World Bank PIP
Unemployment6.5% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises4.3% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person1.7% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming3% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed14% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment120% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Lisbon, with 517,802 people.

61%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
99%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Lisbon517,802
Porto252,687
Braga193,324
Amadora178,858
Coimbra140,796
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Portuguese96%
English27%
French15%
Spanish10%
Portuguese is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Lisbon2.2 million
Porto1.3 million
Setúbal625,841
Braga354,092
Coimbra310,562
Faro306,275
Leiria233,751
Aveiro230,182
Madeira213,794
Santarém133,442

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

All 20 regions
  • Lisbon2.2 million
  • Porto1.3 million
  • Setúbal625,841
  • Braga354,092
  • Coimbra310,562
  • Faro306,275
  • Leiria233,751
  • Aveiro230,182
  • Madeira213,794
  • Santarém133,442
  • Viana do Castelo123,400
  • Viseu103,502
  • Guarda88,034
  • Évora53,591
  • Castelo Branco51,089
  • Bragança35,341
  • Beja34,760
  • Vila Real34,536
  • Portalegre22,368
  • Azores20,056

People on the move

About 17% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are France, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
France585,896
Switzerland202,178
United Kingdom193,901
Residents born abroad10.8% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 17.1% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostFrance (585,896), Switzerland (202,178), United Kingdom (193,901)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $2.7 billion a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

97% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 62%.

97%
of older people receive a pension (2021)
62%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2022)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202428,809Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19501; the deadliest, in 1969, killed about 25 people (magnitude 7.8)NOAA NCEI

Now live it.

Born in Portugal, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Portugal

Elsewhere in Europe

All countries

How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences