Golden visas: Chinese investment falls, Brazilian increases

Chinese investments via golden visas dropped by 28.5% in the first semester relative to the same period of 2018 to 120.7M€, according to the new data released by SEF.

In the first six months of 2018, the Chinese investment ascended to 168.9M€ via a total of 302 visas attributed over that period, dropping to 218 visas in the same semester of 2019.

Brazilian investment, for instance, totalled 81M€ in the first semester of this year, increasing by 10.5% relative to the 73M€ registered the previous year. Until June this year, 111 Brazilians received a golden visa, contrasting with the 88 one year ago.

Turkish investment, however, registered a decrease of 53% in the above mentioned period of 2019 to just 27.5M€. In the first half of the year, only 52 Turks got a golden visa comparing to the 117 in the first semester of 2018. 31 South Africans invested 13M€ in the Portuguese economy via this programme, corresponding to a decrease of 34% relative to the same period last year.

Between January and June this year, American investment surpassed Russian investment, which has been previously among the nationalities investing the most in Portugal in 2018. 31 US citizens got a golden visa and invested 19,7M€, the first semester of this year.

Six and half years after, the Golden Visa’s programme attracted about 4.6Bn€ to Portugal, especially to the Portuguese real estate market with a total investment of 4.2Bn€. Golden visas for capital transference were responsible for attracting 442M€ for the economy.

Topping the list of nationalities that obtained more golden visas are Chinese (4.291), Brazilians (764), Turkish (347), South Africans (299) and Russians (263).