According to the data, there were 226 deaths of children under one year old (56 fewer than in 2016).
The infant mortality rate last year was 2.6 deaths per thousand live births (3.2 in 2016). The lowest figure for this rate was recorded in 2010, with 2.5 infant deaths per thousand live births.
Statistics from INE also showed that the population in Portugal declined in 2017, for the ninth consecutive year, since the number of deaths continues to be higher than that of births.
According to the INE, Portugal’s population shrank by 23,432 people.
In 2017, 86,154 children were born to mothers living in Portugal (live births), 972 fewer than in the previous year, representing a decrease of 1.1 percent.
Of the total number of live births, 54.9 percent were born “out of wedlock.”
The total number of deaths of people residing in Portugal was 109,586, representing a drop of 0.9 percent (down by 987 deaths) compared to 2016.
Of the total deaths, 54,987 were men and 54,599 were women, and 85 percent of the deaths were people aged 65 and over.