There Are Over 4.5M Brazilians Living Abroad. Here's Where They Are
Nearly 5% of Portugal is Brazilian, while NYC has the largest population outside Brazil.
The country of Portugal only has about 10M people living in it in total. So would it surprise you to learn a solid 5% of the country’s population is actually Brazilian?
Staggering as it may sound, one sociologist told O Globo that roughly half a million Brazilians were living in their country’s former colonial overlord. This number represents a significant growth over past years, as crises during the pandemic and the 2010s economic recession have motivated many brasileiros who could pack it up and move across the Atlantic to do so.
But they’re not alone in Europe. Hundreds of thousands of their compatriots reside across Europe, while an additional 2M or so live in the United States.
For these Brazilians which have embraced their inner norte-americano, the East Coast is understandably home, with New York City in particular boasting the largest population worldwide of Brazilians outside of Brazil. Fellow northeast cities such as Boston and Hartford are also represented, while Latin America’s US capital of Miami is naturally a major destination.
The prevalence of Brazilians in Europe and North America – as well as Japan – in comparison to the number in fellow Latin American countries tells us all we need to know regarding motivation and incentives. Particularly difficult decades like the 1980s and 2010s drive greater external migration from Latin America’s biggest country.
In the process, inevitably, migrants make their new homes richer at the cultural, professional, linguistic, and culinary levels. However, given our recent work on shrinking fertility levels within Brazil and its neighbors, we can’t help but worry about the implications of many of the country’s brightest minds and strongest performers leaving for better conditions elsewhere. We love to see Brazilians thriving worldwide, but the country’s leaders must nonetheless ensure the tools for success and realized opportunity at home are also available.
Because Portugal and Japan and Germany are all made richer in every way by incoming Brazilians. We just hope Brazil itself also reaps the benefits of having such a globalized citizenry.