From salaries to education, without forgetting the population, there are several numbers that mark the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April
50 years ago the overwhelming majority of marriages were Catholic. The number of immigrants in Portugal was small and a small part of the population completed higher education. Today women become mothers later. There are more houses, but also fewer active train lines.
The data used in this article is from Pordata.
Marriages fall by half. First child only seven years later
If in 1974 more than 81 thousand weddings were celebrated, in 2022 the number was reduced by half. Only 36,952 marriages were celebrated that year, the last with available data.
The number of Catholic marriages has also dropped significantly. Before the Carnation Revolution, 81% of registered marriages were celebrated by the Church, as opposed to the remaining 19%, which were non-Catholic. The trend was reversed in 2022, the year in which only 27% of marriages were Catholic. The remaining 73% were non-Catholics.
The age at which people get married has also undergone significant changes. On average, men married at 26 before 1974, now they marry at 35. Women, who now marry at 34, married ten years earlier in 1974, at 24.
Marriage became increasingly later, as did the birth of the first child, with women becoming mothers seven years later. 31 years was the average to have the first child in 2022, when they were 24 before the 25th of April. The average number of children also fell: from 2.75 to 1.43.
Hospitals have become the predominant place for births, recording 97% of births in 2022. In 1975, only 61% of births took place in healthcare settings.
There are 24 times more foreigners
The number of foreigners living in Portugal with legal status has increased 24 times in the last 50 years. If in 1974 they corresponded to 0.4% of the population, in 2022 they had already reached 7.5%.
There were more than 780,000 foreigners in the country in 2022. The majority came from the American continent (268,758), with a special incidence from Brazil. With little difference, Europe followed, mostly from the United Kingdom; Africa, especially Cape Verde; and only then Asia, especially India.
Before the 25th of April, immigrants living with legal status in Portugal were around 32 thousand. The largest share came from Europe.
The number of houses doubled
The number of houses has doubled in the last 50 years. In 1970, there were more than two million and seven hundred houses, while in 2021 the value was almost six million.
Along with the number of houses, their size also increased: from 29 square kilometers during the Revolution period, it increased to 65, the reference number for 2021.
At the same time, habitual residences fell from 83% to 69%. Second homes rose from 3% to 19%, while vacant homes fell, but only slightly – from 14% to 12%.
The minimum wage has more purchasing power
The minimum wage today allows more purchasing power than it had before the 25th of April. In 1974, the minimum wage was 3,300 escudos, around 16 euros. Today, with inflation, these 16 euros would correspond to 629 euros.
At the beginning of this year, the minimum wage rose to 820 euros. Compared to 629 euros in 1974, the difference would be 191 euros.
Workers transitioned to services
In 1974, 60% of workers were men and only 40% were women. Currently, the panorama has changed, finding a greater balance: there are 50% male workers and 50% female workers.
Furthermore, workers moved to services. Before the 25th of April, a proportional distribution was visible between the primary (35%), secondary (34%) and tertiary (31%) sectors.
In 2023, the Portuguese scenario was already very different. The majority of workers (72%) were employed in the tertiary sector, which includes, among others, services, health and education. The secondary sector – industry – held 25% of the working population. The tertiary sector registered the biggest drop: from 35% it fell to 3% of workers.
More motorways, but fewer active train lines
The country was interconnected by motorways, the length of which was limited to just 66 kilometers divided between Lisbon and Porto, in 1974. The number had already risen to 3,115 kilometers in 2022 and motorways were already spread throughout the country.
With the development of roads, the consumption of road fuels tripled. In 1977, 1,916 thousand tons were consumed, while in 2022 the value was close to tripling, with 5,285 thousand tons. Diesel was the fuel that saw the biggest rise in consumption – from 1,173 in 1977 to 4,281 in 2022.
But, if the number of motorways and the use of cars has seen a significant increase, the same cannot be said for trains, which have seen around 30% of lines deactivated in the last 50 years. In 1974, more than 3,500 kilometers of line were in operation, in 2022 there were just over 2,500.
On the other hand, traffic at Portuguese airports increased dramatically. In the year of the Carnation Revolution, Portugal recorded 36,210 landings and 4.6 million passengers. In 2022, the number of landings increased to 217,629, with 56.8 million passengers.
Fewer primary schools, but five times more students in higher education
There have been fewer primary schools in Portugal since 1974, but those that exist have more students. There were more than 16 thousand first cycle establishments in 1974, with each one having an average of 57 students. In 2022, the number of schools barely exceeded four thousand, with 93 students in each, on average.
Still, schooling has become universal. In 2022, 100% of children had completed the first cycle – in 1974 there was already a high number, at 85%.
Secondary education also saw a huge increase, and before the 25th of April only 5% of the population completed it. It reached 88% in 2022.
At the same time, there are five times as many students in higher education. There were only 81,582 in 1978, while in 2023 the value was already 446,028. The majority attended public education.
