Upon analysing migration tendencies, the report indicates that “the only group with more than 10,000 people who have the common denominator of citizenship from an EU nation and a birthplace outside of the EU are Portuguese citizens born in India.”
Citizens born in Goa, Daman and Diu up until 19 December 1961, when those states were incorporated into the Republic of India by military conquest, have Portuguese nationality, which can also be claimed by their descendents up to the third generation.
Data supplied to Lusa News Agency from the Portuguese Ambassador to India, Jorge Roza de Oliveira, indicates that, on average, every year, around one thousand people obtain Portuguese nationality being descendants of citizens from Goa, Daman and Diu.
In fact, according to the study published in mid-July, Portugal leads the ranking in terms of the nationality of immigrants in the UK who were born outside the EU, representing 54,000 of 264,000 during the first three months of this year.
In related news, it has emerged that the number of Portuguese nationals living and working abroad has, for the first time ever, surpassed the four million barrier.
The biggest boosts in the number of Portuguese emigrants were noted in Canada, Brazil, South Africa and the UK.
On the other hand Venezuela, France and Holland have all seen their Portuguese émigré populations dwindle.