Portugal heading for historically low birth rates
Demographer Maria João Valente Rosa has warned today that if the fall in the number of births in the first quarter of this year continues, Portugal may register the lowest ever number of births in 2021.
Data from the National Early Diagnosis Program, better known as the “heel prick test”, indicate that 18,226 new borns were studied in this first trimester, in the midst of the covid-19 pandemic, the lowest number since 2015.
In relation to the same period in 2020, 2,898 fewer babies were screened (-13.7%), according to data from the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge.
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Portugal birth rate drops By TPN/Lusa, in News · 29-01-2021 01:00:00 · 0 Comments
About 85,500 babies were born in Portugal in 2020, the lowest figure since 2015, the year 85,056 heel prick tests were conducted.
According to data released by the Ricardo Jorge National Institute of Health (INSA), last year, 85,456 newborns were studied, 1,908 fewer babies than in 2019 (87,364), under the National Neonatal Screening Program (PNRN), which covers almost all births in Portugal. Compared to 2015, the year in which 85,056 babies were screened, the lowest number in the last five years was a drop of 0.48 percent in 2020, representing 400 fewer births, according to INSA.
Lisbon was the city that registered the most newborns, totalling 25,014, 1,267 less compared to 2019, followed by Porto, with 15,734, 33 more than the