The results remained negative in all regions of the country, in a year in which 79,582 children were born to mothers residing in Portugal. “This value reflects a decrease of 5.9% (4,948 fewer live births) compared to the previous year”, indicated the INE.

“Of the total number of live births, 60.0% were born out of wedlock, that is, they were children of parents not married to each other”, the institute said.

40,762 boys and 38,820 girls were born, that is, for every 100 female children, around 105 male children were born, according to INE.

Deaths

Last year, there were 124,802 deaths of people residing in the national territory, 1.2% more (1,444 more) than in 2020.

“The increase in the number of deaths and the decrease in the number of live births again determined a strong worsening of the natural balance, from -38,828 in 2020 to -45,220 in 2021”, reads the communication.

In 2021, 191 children under one year old died, 14 fewer than in 2020, keeping the infant mortality rate at 2.4 deaths per thousand live births.

Marriages

After the “strong drop in the number of marriages” celebrated in 2020 (18,902, 43.2% less than in 2019), the number of marriages last year increased to 29,057 (53.7% more).

In about two thirds of marriages (66.2%), the couple already had a previous common residence.