If there is a hidden agenda but the population start complaining about the things they are experiencing as a result of that you can be 100% confident the government will pay some group of researchers to produce a report that shows it's all in your mind, just imagining it, no real crime, you're just over-reacting to a small number of events etc. Both the USSR and the West even did this after Chernobyl!! No, no, you don't feel ill, you're just very stressed!!
From 2000 to 2024, the years covered by the report, the net population of Portugal increased by approximately half a million residents. Also during that same period, the number of immigrants resident in Portugal increased by nearly 1.25 million.
So, no matter how you try to spin it, the fact that the total number of recorded crimes actually *declined* during that period is very significant.
The data confirms the many national NGO studies and international reports about Portugal continuing to be one of the safest countries in the world (not to mention that most crimes in Portugal are nonviolent crimes.) The data also exposes the right-wing false claim that "increased immigration leads to increased crime".
Authoritarians bent on undermining democracy are the only ones who benefit from fearmongering that is not supported by empirical evidence.
Finally, if the "hidden agenda" of the report was to mislead, they would have chosen the period from 2007-2024, not 2000-2024. 2000 was an unusually low year for crime rates, the beginning of a sharp climb to 2007. Crimes rates have been declining significantly since then. While 2023 being an anomalous jump in number of total crimes, 2024 showing the trend of lowering crime rates continuing.
They are trying to create an atmosphere of fear in hopes it will deter people from choosing Portugal as a place to relocate
If there is a hidden agenda but the population start complaining about the things they are experiencing as a result of that you can be 100% confident the government will pay some group of researchers to produce a report that shows it's all in your mind, just imagining it, no real crime, you're just over-reacting to a small number of events etc. Both the USSR and the West even did this after Chernobyl!! No, no, you don't feel ill, you're just very stressed!!
From 2000 to 2024, the years covered by the report, the net population of Portugal increased by approximately half a million residents. Also during that same period, the number of immigrants resident in Portugal increased by nearly 1.25 million.
So, no matter how you try to spin it, the fact that the total number of recorded crimes actually *declined* during that period is very significant.
The data confirms the many national NGO studies and international reports about Portugal continuing to be one of the safest countries in the world (not to mention that most crimes in Portugal are nonviolent crimes.) The data also exposes the right-wing false claim that "increased immigration leads to increased crime".
Authoritarians bent on undermining democracy are the only ones who benefit from fearmongering that is not supported by empirical evidence.
Finally, if the "hidden agenda" of the report was to mislead, they would have chosen the period from 2007-2024, not 2000-2024. 2000 was an unusually low year for crime rates, the beginning of a sharp climb to 2007. Crimes rates have been declining significantly since then. While 2023 being an anomalous jump in number of total crimes, 2024 showing the trend of lowering crime rates continuing.