The data regarding Portuguese emigration to the UK was provided by the president of the Emigration Observatory, Rui Pena Pires, who was citing figures from the British Department for Work and Pensions. Although Brexit caused half of the drop in emigration in 2020, with the other half due to the pandemic, the complete data for 2021, which are not yet known, should point to a number of Portuguese entering the United Kingdom close to that recorded in 2018 (18,868), according to a report by Público.

Rui Pena Pires admits that “there seems to be an upward trend in emigration, with values ​​close to or higher than those recorded before the pandemic”. In 2019, 24,595 entries were registered, although these were largely due to the regularisation of situations that occurred in the pre-Brexit period, clarifies the president of the observatory.

Of the 11 countries with complete information regarding the numbers of emigration for 2021, nine registered more emigrants entering than in 2020, and in six the entries for 2019 were exceeded. Altogether, 22,682 Portuguese entered other countries, a figure higher than the 22,533 in 2019 and 17,070 in 2020. Emigration to the Netherlands also peaked in 2021, with 3,406 Portuguese, an increase of 76% compared to 2020.