The demographic data for the Azores for the third quarter of 2024, released yesterday by the SREA, shows a 3.3% year-on-year drop in the total number of live births.

From January to September, there were 1,388 births, less than the 1,511 in the same period last year.

In the same period, the number of deaths was 1,841, more than the 1,791 in the same period last year.

The natural balance in the third quarter (-97) was more adverse than in the same period last year (-80).

There were 368 marriages this quarter, 41 fewer than in the same period last year, a 10.0% decrease year over year.

The crude death rate was 9.8‰ in 2023, 1.5 points less than the previous year.

In the same year, the infant mortality rate was 2.9‰, the same as the previous year, the SREA confirms.

Ribeira Grande is unique in the country.

Meanwhile, it has now been revealed that, due to emigration, the record number of inhabitants in Portugal was broken in 2023. There has been an increase in the birth rate in various regions of the country, especially in Greater Lisbon (where one in four children was born), with Odivelas and Loures leading the way. The birth rate has even surpassed the ‘historic levels’ of the Azorean municipality of Ribeira Grande, which nevertheless remains the region with the fastest growth due to the natural balance.

According to the 2023 demographic data released by INE, the municipality with the most dynamic birth rate is now Odivelas, which reached 12 births per thousand inhabitants, i.e., 1,844 babies.

Amadora, its geographical neighbor, and Albufeira are a short distance behind the Algarve, with 11.4 per thousand.

Four other municipalities in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area are a few tenths lower: Loures (11.3), Moita (11.3), Montijo (11.1), and Sintra (11.1).

Only after these municipalities came the municipality that for decades led the relative ranking of births: Ribeira Grande (10.9 births per thousand), which includes the town of Rabo de Peixe, a densely populated area with high birth rates.

In Diário dos Açores–Osvaldo Cabral, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADE.