One month before the local elections, Pordata, the statistical database of the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation, has published a portrait of Portuguese municipalities.

Demographic analysis shows that the Algarve municipality of Alcoutim has maintained the lowest population density since 2021, in contrast to Amadora, a district of Lisbon, the municipality with the most residents per km2 (7,637 inhabitants).

Between 2021 and 2024, of the country's 308 municipalities, 99 (32%) lost their active population (aged 15 to 64) and only 120 increased their youth population, with the municipalities of Odemira (Beja) and Vila de Rei (Castelo Branco) standing out, with increases exceeding 12%.

Lisbon remains the most populous municipality, with 575,739 inhabitants in 2024, 30,569 more than in 2021, representing a 5.6% increase above the national average. It is followed by Sintra (400,947 residents) and Vila Nova de Gaia (Porto), with 312,984.

In the relative growth ranking, Óbidos (Leiria) recorded the highest population growth compared to the last municipal cycle (2021), with a 10.5% increase, going from 12,410 to 13,720 inhabitants.

Barrancos (Beja) experienced the largest proportional decline, with a 5.5% decrease in population, falling from 1,498 to 1,415 inhabitants.

Aging population

The demographic portrait also shows an aging country, with Vinhais (Bragança) being the oldest municipality, with 46.3% of the population aged 65 or over, almost double the national average (24.3%).

Oleiros (Castelo Branco) was the municipality that saw the greatest reduction in its aging rate between 2021 and 2024, although it remains among the oldest in the country.

Of the 53 municipalities that saw a reduction in the aging rate, 25 are in the Alentejo.

Conversely, Ribeira Grande, in the Azores, is the youngest municipality, with 143 young people per 100 seniors, while Montijo has the greatest demographic vitality, with 85 young people per 100 seniors.

Geographical size

In environmental terms, Odemira (Beja) remains the largest Portuguese municipality, with 1,720.6 km2, while São João da Madeira (Aveiro) is the smallest (7.94 km2).

The municipality of Paredes (Porto) leads in the number of fires, with an annual average of 320 occurrences over the last decade.