In 2021

The foreign population residing in the Autonomous Region of Madeira reached an historical high

According to the Immigration and Borders Service (SEF), on December 31^st, 2021, the foreign population with resident status in the Autonomous Region of Madeira reached 10,405 persons – the highest value since 2008 (first year of the time series) – representing an increase of 10.0% from 2020 (+950 persons). The overall foreign population is the total of residence permits since there was no registration of long-stay visas.

The Venezuelan (22.6%), the British (11.7%), the Brazilian (9.5%), and the German (8.5%) nationalities remain the largest foreign communities residing in the Autonomous Region of Madeira.

In 2021, the highest growth in the number of foreigners residing in the Region was from those holding a residence permit with German nationality, representing an increase of +42.5% (from 623 in 2020 to 888 in 2021). Contrary, the number of foreigners residing in the Region holding a residence permit with British nationality decreased by 9.5% (from 1,342 in 2020 to 1,215 in 2021).

The foreigners residing in the Region with German nationality contributed the most to the growth of the foreign population between 2020 and 2021 (+950 persons), representing 27.9% of the overall increase. The following largest contributions were due to nationals from Brazil and Poland, representing +9.7% and +8.2%, respectively.

In terms of geographical distribution, it is in Funchal that the foreign population is still mainly concentrated (50.7% of the total of the Region), followed by Santa Cruz (13.7%), Calheta (9.4%) and Ponta do Sol (5.0%). By gender, the share of females (51.0%) is slightly higher than the proportion of males (49.0%).

The municipalities where the foreign population had the largest share in the total number of residents are Calheta (9.0%), Porto Santo (8.1%), Ponta do Sol (6.2%) and Funchal (5.0%).

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