More than 90,000 Portuguese nationals emigrated from the country in 2017, down around 10,000 on 2016, with the United Kingdom (UK) remaining the main destination, according to the latest official report on emigration. 

According to a report by the Portuguese news agency Lusa, the document, which compiled data for 2017 from the countries where it was available, "Portuguese emigration continues a sustained downward trend" that it says relates closely to "the recovery of the Portuguese economy, especially at the level of job creation” and a drop in unemployment, with the "revitalisation of the labour market ". 

The trend, says the report, which was drafted by Observatório de Emigração, the Emigration Observatory, was also driven partly by the "reduction of the attraction of destination countries such as the UK, due to the 'Brexit' effect, and Angola, due to the economic crisis” triggered by the drop in the price of crude oil. 

Emigration has been falling since 2013, when it peaked at 120,000, the highest this century, before falling to 115,000 in 2014 then 110,000 in 2015 and 100,000 in 2016. 

Although Portuguese emigration to the UK last year, at 22,622, was 26% down on the 2016 figure of 30,543, it remains the prime destination, "a very long way ahead of the other most important destinations". 

Portuguese emigration to Switzerland fell for a fourth straight year, by 8.6% in 2017, to 9,257. Emigration to Australia and Norway also fell once more, although with much lower absolute values. 

According to the Observatory, changes and corrections to German and French statistics make it difficult accurately to measure recent trends in emigration to those countries, although in the case of France it said it believed it dropped sharply last year. 

After the UK, the top destinations are Germany, France, Switzerland and Spain. Outside Europe, the main destinations are members of the Community of Portuguese-Language Countries (CPLP): Angola, Mozambique (around 1,000 in 2016, the most recent year for which figures can be estimated) and Brazil (around 1,000 in 2015). 

The document continues by saying that emigrants are predominately older and overall "mostly composed of unskilled active [workers], although that varies greatly between countries. There has been, it notes "a significant increase in the proportion of more qualified" workers, with the percentage of emigrants from Portugal residing in member countries of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development that have a higher-education qualification having almost doubled over the decade to 2011, to 11% from 6%.