According to preliminary results from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the Algarve was one of only two Portuguese regions, along with the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML), which has gained population in the last 10 years.

According to data from INE, the population of the district of Faro presents a positive growth variation of 3.8%, with more women (240,867) than men (226,628) among the inhabitants of its 16 municipalities.

Although the population increase between 2011 and 2021 was observed in most (11) of the region's municipalities, the municipalities of Alcoutim (-13.6%), Monchique (-9.6%), Castro Marim (-4.6 %), Olhão and Vila Real de Santo António (both with -1.7%) lost residents.

The population increase occurred, in descending order, in the municipalities of Vila do Bispo (+8.8%), Albufeira (+8.2%), Lagos (+7.9), Portimão (+7.7), São Brás de Alportel (+5.7), Tavira (+5.2), Faro (+3.9), Lagoa (+3.2) Loulé (+3.1), Aljezur (+2.8) and Silves ( +1.9).

The two municipalities that lost the most population in percentage terms are those that have no connection to the Algarve coast, namely Alcoutim, which now has 2,521 inhabitants (396 fewer than in 2011), and Monchique, which currently has 5,465 inhabitants (580 fewer inhabitants) than in 2011).

In the opposite direction, we find Vila do Bispo, which was the municipality that grew the most in percentage terms in the last decade in the Algarve, going from 5,258 to 5,722 residents, Albufeira, which now has 44,158 against 40,828 in 2011, or Portimão, which saw the its population increased from 55,624 to the current 59,896.

According to the 2021 Census, Portugal currently has 10,347,892 residents, 214,286 less than in 2011, of which 4,917,794 men (48%) and 5,430,098 women (52%).

This is a fall of 2% compared to 2011, the result of a negative natural balance (-250,066 people, according to provisional data).

The migratory balance, despite being positive, was not enough to reverse the population fall, according to INE, which emphasizes that, in census terms, the only decade in which there was a decrease in population was between 1960 and 1970.

Preliminary data show that in Portugal there are 4,917,794 men (48%) and 5,430,098 women (52%).

The Algarve and the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (AML) were the only regions that registered population growth in the last 10 years.