RSI reaches less than 4% of foreign citizens in Portugal

Oforeign citizens represent less than 4% of the total beneficiaries of the Social Income of Insertion (RSI), said the Secretary of State for Social Security today, denying that these people are a problem for the support system.

“ It is worth remembering that the weight of foreigners as beneficiaries of the RSI is less than 4%. In every 100 beneficiaries of the RSI, 96 are Portuguese citizens”, said Filipa Lima, being heard in the context of the general assessment of the proposal for the State Budget bill for 2027 (OE2027), together with the remaining team of the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security.

In response to questions from the Aquira party bench, the Secretary of State said that there are currently 6,500 foreign people receiving the RSI, in about 190 thousand beneficiaries.

According to the ruler, from the group of foreign people receiving the RSI, one in three are Ukrainian citizens who arrived in Portugal in 2022.

Filipa Lima said that that year about 10,000 people arrived in Portugal, and that today this number has dropped to “just over 2,400” Ukrainian citizens.

“ Therefore, no, ladies and gentlemen, foreign citizens are not a problem in the case of the ISR and will not be a problem in the case of the PSU, “the Secretary of State said, referring to the fact that the ISR is one of the benefits that will be aggregated in the new social benefit.

According to Filipa Lima, the deputies “mixed a series of ideas that do not fully correspond to the truth” and took the opportunity to “clarify” that the ISR is a provision of the non-contributory regime and that, therefore, “it makes no sense to demand social security contribution to this type of support”,

“ What we already do is to demand, for foreign citizens, residence [in the country] over a year”, he pointed out.

With regard to the contribution scheme, the Secretary of State took the opportunity to point out that between January and June 2026, based on the data of the Social Security Institute, there is an average of 914 thousand foreign taxpayers per month, with an average of 15 thousand new enrollees, which contribute, on average, around 412 euros per month.

“ With regard to benefits, we are talking about 205 thousand beneficiaries per month, with an average monthly benefit of 349 euros. In cumulative terms, we have for contributions, by August, more than EUR 3 billion of social security contributions, a growth of 13.7% and on the benefit side, EUR 563 million, a growth of 2.3%”, said Filipa Lima.