The data, released by the Ricardo Jorge National Health Institute (INSA), which brings together almost all births in Portugal, shows that the number of babies tracked fell again after reaching, in the same period of 2023, the value highest (21,065) since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, in March 2020.

The year 2023 had closed with 2,328 more babies studied compared to the year 2022, totalling 85,764, according to data from the National Neonatal Screening Program (PNRN), coordinated by INSA.

Data from this year indicate that January was the month that recorded the highest number of births (7,683), followed by February (6,651) and March, with 6,241 babies.

In this first quarter, Lisbon was the district with the most tests carried out (6,316), followed by Porto (3,597), Setúbal (1,656), Braga (1,561), Faro (1,075) and Aveiro (899).

The lowest number of tests was observed in the district of Bragança (122), followed by Portalegre (134) and Guarda (165).