According to the International Organisation for Migration (2019, p. 132), a migrant is a person who moves from his or her place of habitual residence, whether within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, and across a variety of reasons. Although there was a decrease in 2008 with the socioeconomic crisis, migration numbers raised again in 2016. According to the RIFA 2020 Report, Brazil is by far the most common country of origin, with migrants from that country counting 183.993 individuals, followed by the Cape Verdean, with 36 609 people.<sup>1</sup> In 2022, Portugal saw its number of foreign citizen residents rise to an unprecedented 782.000 (+11.9% compared with 2021), representing 7.5% of the total resident population. It represented the fifth-highest rate of 76.9 in the EU of labour market activity by foreigners, being 18.7% higher than that of Portuguese citizens. However, in comparison with native citizens, foreigners continue to be employed in the most precarious sectors and activities, such as construction, manufacturing, garment making, assembly, platform delivery of food and people, especially in the accommodation and food service activities (11.3%),<sup>2</sup> that is, non-skilled positions.<sup>3</sup>
The immigrant population in Portugal has increased, totalling 752,252 in 2022. According to the Immigration and Borders Service (SEF), there was an increase of 58,365 immigrants in comparison to the year prior, an 8.3% increase. Nevertheless, the largest growing immigrant populations in Portugal in the last year were from Brazil and India. The Brazilian community remains the largest immigrant population in Portugal, with over 233,138 people, a 13% increase since 2021, followed by the United Kingdom (36,639), Cape Verde (35,744) and India (34,232).<sup>4</sup> The Indian community also increased by 13% to around 34.000 residents, making it the fourth-largest immigrant population in Portugal.
According to Schierup (2007, p. 152), although with differences between countries, in general, the economic sectors representing the worst working conditions began to absorb in a widespread way the work of undocumented immigrants as an indispensable part of their productive system, these sectors offer a range of conspicuous examples of feminisation and racialisation of the labour market that go hand in hand with the degradation of work in the post-Fordist flexible regime. The hierarchical system of subcontracting, flexibility and informalisation (which, until then, affected nationals of those territories to a lesser extent) is indicated as key elements for understanding the characteristics of the work of these undocumented immigrants (Basso, 2003).
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<sup>1</sup> https://sefstat.sef.pt/Docs/Rifa2020.pdf.
<sup>2</sup> https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/promotingour-european-way-life/statistics-migration-europe\_en.
<sup>3</sup> https://migrant-integration.ec.europa.eu/library-document/immigrant-integrationindicators-annual-statistical-report-2023\_en.
<sup>4</sup> https://www.portugal.com/news/immigrant-population-in-portugal-increases-to-750 000/.