A new statistical portrait from Portugal’s National Statistics Institute (INE) reveals a troubling reality in the Atlantic archipelago: residents of the Autonomous Region of the Azores are significantly less likely than mainland Portuguese to access basic health care services.

According to the Survey on Living Conditions and Income (ICOR), 25 percent of Azorean residents aged 16 or older reported not visiting a general practitioner or family doctor at all during the year prior to the interview in 2025. That figure stands well above the national average of 20.5 percent, highlighting a persistent gap in primary health care access between the islands and the mainland.

While 56.3 percent of Azoreans reported having one or two consultations with a general practitioner and 18.7 percent said they had three or more, the overall result still places the region behind the country as a whole. In total, 75 percent of Azorean residents had at least one consultation, compared with 79.5 percent nationwide.

The disparities extend beyond primary care. Oral health services remain even less accessible in the archipelago. According to the same survey, 46.3 percent of Azorean residents did not see a dentist in 2025, a noticeably higher proportion than the 40.4 percent recorded nationally. Meanwhile, 41.5 percent reported one or two dental consultations and 12.2 percent three or more, meaning that just 53.7 percent of Azoreans had at least one dental visit, compared with 59.6 percent across Portugal.

A similar pattern appears in access to medical specialists. Less than half of Azorean residents—47.2 percent—reported seeing a specialist in the previous twelve months, while 52.8 percent had not, a figure again higher than the national average of 46.7 percent.

The numbers also reveal the financial pressure health care places on families in the islands. Azorean households reported slightly heavier financial burdens across several categories of health spending. In 2025, 41.1 percent of families described medical care costs as “somewhat heavy” or “very heavy,” compared with 39.3 percent nationally.

The burden was even more pronounced in other areas. Dental care costs were considered heavy by 48.2 percent of Azorean households, compared with 47.2 percent nationwide, while 48.4 percent reported significant financial pressure from medication costs, higher than the 45.7 percent national figure.

The Azorean data forms part of a broader national picture in which the INE highlights two main barriers to care across Portugal. Financial limitations were the leading reason people went without dental examinations or treatments, while long waiting lists were the most frequently cited obstacle to accessing medical care.

Across Portugal, 3.8 percent of residents reported unmet medical care needs, while 10.2 percent reported unmet dental care needs.

Taken together, the figures paint a clear picture: although most Azoreans still access health services at least once a year, the region continues to face systemic challenges in availability, affordability, and timely access to care—a reminder that geography, even in a modern health system, still shapes the limits of opportunity.

In Diário dos Açores, Paulo Viveiros, director

Translated into English as a community outreach program by the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL), in collaboration with Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno. PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.