Almost one third of the Portuguese population aged 15 years or more consumes processed fish or seafood and processed meat once to three times a week, according to data from the INE published on World Food Day.
© Lusa
16/10/2026
by
Lusa
Quase one third of the Portuguese population aged 15 years or more consumed processed fish or seafood and processed meat one to three times a week in 2025, according to data from the NSA released today, World Food Day.
Data from the National Health Survey (INS) of the National Institute of Statistics, held in the 4th quarter of 2025, indicate that last year 18.7% and 14.4% of people reported never consuming, respectively, processed fish or shellfish and processed meat, but almost one third consumed these foods one to three times a week (32.1%, in both cases).
According to the survey, the main results of which were published on June 24, more than half of the population aged 15 years or more consumed fruit daily (68.3% of people) and milk and dairy products (57.5%).
Vegetables and salads included daily food for 41.2% of the population and 30% consumed vegetable soup daily.
“ Only 4.4% of people consumed fish or shellfish daily, dry, fresh or frozen. For fresh or frozen poultry meat and for fresh or frozen red meat, the proportions were 9.4% and 11.2% respectively,” says the NSA.
Sugar soft drinks were consumed daily by 8% of the population, four to six times a week by 6% of people and one to three times a week by 18.2% of the population. Overall, 32.2% of the population consumed these drinks at least once a week.
The survey results indicate that more than half of the 18-year-old population (57.1%) was overweight or obese, with a body mass index equal to or greater than 25 kg/m2.
Another conclusion of the survey indicates that 20.7% of people aged 15 years or older said they had never consumed alcohol and 8.6% reported not having done so in the 12 months prior to the interview.
The daily consumption of alcoholic beverages was reported by 15.3% of the reporting population, especially the population aged 65 to 84 years with proportions of about one third: 33.3% from 65 to 74 years and 32.0% from 75 to 84 years.
“ Daily consumption was clearly more frequent in men (23.2% versus 7.9% in women), in the less educated (24.9% and 23.5% in people without education and with basic education, respectively) and in the retired population (32.5%) ", stresses the NSA.
According to the survey, risky alcohol consumption was higher in men (51.2%, with 19.5% taking on a monthly frequency), in young people (with frequencies above 50% between 15 and 34 years for total and above 23% for occasional consumption) and in the population with another inactivity, which includes students (53.9% for total and 21% for monthly episodes).
As for tobacco, data from 2025 indicate that 14.6% of the population aged 15 years or older was a smoker and 12.7% smoked daily.
Tobacco consumption was higher in men (19.6%, twice as high in women). The highest proportions of smokers and regular smokers were in the age groups from 25 to 64 years, mainly in the age group from 45 to 54 years (20.5% of smokers and 18.7% of daily smokers).
In 2025, 3.4% of residents aged 15 years and over indicated daily use of heated tobacco products and 1.3% electronic cigarettes. In both cases, the frequency of use of this type of product was higher in men.
The survey data also indicate that 28.5% of the population aged 15 years and older did not move on foot on any day of a normal week and more than half (53.4%) did not exercise.
The INE provides a new interactive application of the Portuguese Food Balance (BAP), which allows exploring the evolution of food availability for human consumption and its energy and nutritional composition. The application brings together 22 indicators, organized into 9 themes, including the ‘per capita’ indicators for the period 2021 to 2024, revised following the update of the Resident Population Annual Estimates.