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RASI – Annual Internal Security Report 2025

Annually, it is the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the Internal Security System to process, consolidate, analyse, and disseminate integrated crime statistics and prepare the Annual Internal Security Report, which has now been published.

In 2025 there were 365,802 criminal reports, corresponding to an increase of 3.1% compared to 2024 (+10,924 reports).

The crime of theft, in its various forms, continues to be the one with the highest number of reports, followed by fraud, in its various types, and traffic crimes.

Domestic violence against a spouse or similar (-2.2%) and simple voluntary bodily injury (+0.1%) remain the criminal types with the highest number of reports.

Driving a vehicle with an alcohol content equal to or greater than 1.2g/L continues to be the third most reported crime, although it registered a significant increase of 23%.

Regarding the geographical distribution of crime, the highs in Coimbra and Leiria stand out, both with increases greater than 10%. Also noteworthy are the districts of Lisbon and Porto, which registered increases close to 4%. Regarding decreases, the Azores Autonomous Region (-8.8%) and Portalegre (-4.7%) stand out.

VIOLENT AND SERIOUS CRIME – Regarding violent and serious crime, defined as crime that has as its common denominator physical or psychological violence and that causes a strong feeling of insecurity, there were a total of 14,149 reports, which corresponds to a variation of -1.6%.

The violent and serious crimes that stood out the most were robbery on public roads, snatch theft, resistance and coercion against a public official, and sexual extortion, which together represent about 70% of the total of this type of crime.

Among the violent and serious crimes, the decreases in robberies of banks or other credit establishments (-50%), robberies at gas stations (-33.8%), robberies on public transport (-18.5%), and robberies of residences (-15.5%) stand out.

Conversely, in violent and serious crime, noteworthy increases were seen in robberies of jewellery stores (+26.3%), resistance to coercion against an official (+15.8%), other extortions (+12.7%), and sexual extortion (+6.8%). Also noteworthy is the crime of rape (+6.4%), which maintains its upward trend, showing the highest value of the decade, and completed manslaughter (+10.1%).

Regarding violent and serious crime, decreases were observed in Lisbon (-3.4%) and Porto (-8.4%). Increases were seen in the districts of Braga (+11.7%) and Leiria (+11.4%).

In the context of crimes against sexual freedom and self-determination, those that registered the highest number of investigations initiated and arrests in 2025 were crimes of child sexual abuse, rape, and child pornography. It was found, similarly to what occurred in previous years that the crime of child sexual abuse is perpetrated, for the most part, by male individuals (90.6%), who take advantage of family relationships (49.5%), especially with victims between 8 and 13 years old.

Also in the crime of rape, the preponderance of a relationship of acquaintance/family between the perpetrator and the victim (52%) was recorded, with the latter being predominantly female (90.3%), in the age range between 21 and 40 years.

Group crime, defined as the occurrence of a criminal act committed by three or more suspects, regardless of the type of crime, the specificities that may exist in the group, or the level of participation of each participant, shows a decrease of 1.2%.

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY- which includes the practice, by an individual aged between 12 and 16 years, of an act qualified by law as a crime, under the terms provided for by the Educational Guardianship Law, also registered a decrease of 1.3% in the number of occurrences.

SCHOOL SAFETY – Regarding school safety, there were 8,133 incidents (+14.1%), of which 5,694 are of a criminal nature (-0.9%). Among the incidents, the most prominent were offenses against physical integrity (2,198), thefts (931), sexual offenses (182), robberies (120), and 114 incidents of use/possession of weapons.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE – Domestic violence, as in previous years, shows a slight decrease (-1.9%). However, it continues to present very high participation rates (29,644), with an increase in violence against minors (+8.6%). The crime of domestic violence against a spouse or similar continues to be the one with the highest number of registered cases among the crimes involved (25,357).

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION – Regarding crimes related to illegal immigration, which encompass 6 types of crimes, notably aiding illegal immigration, marriage of convenience, violation of entry bans, association for aiding illegal immigration, recruitment of illegal labor, and other related crimes, there was an increase of 862 occurrences, equivalent to an increase of 251.3% compared to the previous year, also accompanied by an increase in the number of defendants charged.

There continues to be a prevalence of victims of human trafficking for the purpose of labor exploitation, especially in the areas of agriculture on seasonal properties, but also in construction, livestock farming, the textile industry, restaurants, sports activities, and domestic work. In the year 2025, the Observatory on Trafficking in Human Beings reported 307 cases (205 victims validated as such).

DRUG TRAFFICKING

Regarding drug trafficking and related crimes, there was a 10.1% increase in registered crimes, as well as a rise in the number of seizures (+7.4%) and the number of arrests (+6.1%). There was also a significant increase in seizures of hashish (+102.6%). The most consumed and trafficked drugs internally continue to be marijuana—whether in the form of hashish or leaves—, cocaine, heroin, and synthetic drugs, with trafficking and consumption being most prevalent in the districts of Lisbon and Porto.

The national territory has specific geographical characteristics that facilitate the carrying out of trafficking operations of these substances, developed by criminal organizations of a transnational nature, which introduce significant quantities of narcotic product into national territory, frequently with the collaboration of criminal groups of Portuguese origin, with the main objective of supplying the market of European countries.

CYBERCRIME – Regarding most cybercrime, there was a 13.4% increase in participated crime, when compared to the previous year. There continues to be a growth in cyberattacks, with noticeable technical evolution (with increasing use of artificial intelligence), sophistication, complexity and frequency, which mainly affect the sectors of Education and Research, Health and Public Administration.

The main cybercrimes investigated concern ransomware attacks, various forms of social engineering such as phishing and smishing, online scams, and account compromise (especially bank accounts).

CHILD PROOGRAPHY – Regarding the phenomenon of child pornography, there is an increase in the expression of this type of crime, related to the expansion of digital platforms and the dynamics of sharing illicit content. There is a prevalence of pornography distribution on communication channels and platforms, as well as on storage services such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Google Drive, and Mega.

ELECTRONIC PAYMENT MEASURES –

In crime associated with electronic payment methods, the main types of fraud/modus operandi identified in 2025 are: carding and skimming (counterfeiting and use of counterfeit cards or other payment devices, with associated money laundering); Phishing campaigns aimed at obtaining bank card data, combined with the caller ID spoofing technique, in which the criminal poses as an employee of a banking entity and requests confirmation of alleged suspicious transactions. There is a growing trend, following technological progress, the widespread shift to a digital economy, consumer behaviour, as well as the rapid identification and exploitation by criminal groups of vulnerabilities in the payment system and electronic money services.

In the cryptocurrency market, there has been an increase in fraud associated with fake platforms, driven by the online dissemination and promotion of this type of currency and the insufficient financial and digital literacy of the victims. The number of indictments and arrests for cybercrime increased, respectively +28.5% and +88.6%.

Crimes of counterfeiting/forgery of currency and passing counterfeit currency show a decrease of 31.6% compared to the previous year. Nevertheless, there was a 7.8% increase in seizures of banknotes (€ and USD), totalling €952,725 and USD20,489.

In the area of economic and financial crime, there was a 22% increase in the number of investigations initiated. The crime of money laundering showed the greatest growth, with an increase of approximately 42%, followed by active corruption (+17%). In the year 2025, there was a 49.6% increase in indictments and a 154% increase in arrests.

It was also verified that 893,744 actions of collaboration with judicial and administrative authorities were carried out.

WEAPONS AND EXPLOSIVES – Regarding inspection actions related to weapons and explosives, 3,604 inspection actions, searches and awareness campaigns were carried out. As a result of these operations, 9,552 firearms were seized, 7,692 firearms were surrendered or recovered, 170,227 rounds of ammunition and 47,553 kg of explosives were seized, with a total of 12,241 firearms and 2,466 bladed weapons being destroyed.

CRIME PREVENTION – In the context of crime prevention and strengthening security in society, the continuation of several general prevention programs stands out, which have resulted in community policing, especially with the most vulnerable groups, notably through the Safe School program, Support 65 – Seniors in Safety, Support for People with Disabilities, Safe Commerce, Safe Countryside, Animal Defense Line and Maritime Citizenship Program. Numerous specific prevention actions were also carried out, particularly on festive occasions or at events likely to generate a greater concentration of people, notably the operations “Safe Carnival”, “Safe Easter”, “Carnival 2025”, “Easter 2025”, “Safe Pilgrimage”, “Safe Summer”, “Christmas and New Year 2025/2026” and the crime prevention and enforcement campaign “Portugal Always Safe”.

Meeting at Infarmed concerning evolution of Covid-19 -Live updates – 23 /03/ 2021

Today, another meeting is taking place at Infarmed, in which the Government and political figures meet with experts to analyze the epidemiological situation in Portugal.

At Infarmed, in Lisbon, from 10 am, as has been happening since February, only the Minister of Health, Marta Temido, and most epidemiologists will be present.

The remaining participants, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, António Costa and Ferro Rodrigues, party representatives, members of the Council of State and social partners, will follow the meeting by videoconference.

This week the Assembly of the Republic is expected to debate and vote on the draft presidential decree for the renewal of the state of emergency for a new period of 15 days, with effect from April 1 and which will cover the Easter period.

The session begins with a presentation by André Peralta Santos, from the Directorate-General for Health, on the epidemiological situation , following the perspective of the evolution of the incidence and transmissibility of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in charge of Baltazar Nunes and Ricardo Mexia, from the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA) .

João Paulo Gomes, also from INSA, will update the virus variants in the country, with Henrique de Barros, from the Public Health Institute of the University of Porto, giving a presentation on a year of learning from covid-19 in Portugal .

The meeting continues with the presentation of the social perceptions of the pandemic in the country, in charge of Carla Nunes, from the National School of Public Health of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, and with the status of vaccination by the coordinator of the vice-admiral task force Henrique Gouveia e Melo .

The meeting starts 10.08 hrs

André Santos Peralta, the DGS, says there was a “downward trend of maintaining” the incidence of the virus, with an average of 79 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. However, in Greater Lisbon, “there are already some municipalities” with a growing trend. The active population became the population with the highest incidence, but there was a “very expressive” decrease in hospitalizations in the infirmary and ICU.

The active population became the population with the highest incidence, but there was a “very expressive” decrease in hospitalizations in the infirmary and ICU. “in a scenario of great incidence, only the population from 40 to 60 is enough to exceed the indicator of 245 beds of hospitalizations in ICU”. That is, “To be completely safe, the age group to be vaccinated will have to go up to these ages”.

Lisbon and Tagus Valley has the highest incidence (more cases per 100 thousand inhabitants every 14 days).

Regarding hospitalizations, there is a maintenance of the decline in the +60 group. In the ICUs, there is a “very significant drop” in the group of 50, 60 and 70 years old.

As for the variants, that of the United Kingdom increased, reaching 73% in Lisbon and Vale do Tejo and above 60% in the North.

The testing rate is “quite considerable” and the 4% positive ceiling is only found “in some municipalities”. There has been a greater speed in laboratory notification, revealed the expert.

English variant already represents more than 70% of the cases in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region. “There has been an increase”

A new fact about lethality: “In the week of March 1st to 7th, there was a decrease in lethality in the more than 80 years,” he says.

Regarding the virus variants, especially in the United Kingdom, there was an increase, with a prevalence of new variants in the order of 73.3% in the Lisbon region, and 60% / 65% in the North and Center, and in the rest of the country the estimate is more uncertain but it will be around 30% in the Alentejo and 70% in the Algarve.

People who leave home are the most difficult to avoid visiting family and friends

LILIANA VALENTE

There are some measures that are easier to take, such as wearing a mask, but others that are more difficult, such as keeping your distance or teleworking. However, there were “critical indicators” that were analyzed such as “avoiding visiting family or friends” and “staying at home”
In these two indicators, there were 36.9% of people who admitted that it was difficult or very difficult not to visit family or friends and 35.2% to stay at home.
In a finer analysis, Carla Nunes says that “it is the people who naturally leave home, the ones who most report having more difficulty in avoiding visiting family members with friends”
Carla Nunes, from the National School of Public Health, presents the barometer data on the various public health indicators and notes that there are “slight” changes both in behaviour and in the perception of the global health status.
“46.3% of people saying they had reasonable, bad or very bad or overall health status” and “1 in 5 of people – felt agitated, anxious or sad” in the past few days.
In addition, says the professor at the National School of Public Health, there was a “slight increase in worse behaviors”.
Vaccinations

The coordinator of the vaccination plan against covid-19, Henrique Gouveia e Melo, revealed that, in April, “about 1.8 million vaccines” will arrive in Portugal. The 70% vaccinees are still expected “by the end of the summer” and, in the second quarter, the number of inoculations will reach between 95 thousand and 100 thousand per day.
1.8 million vaccines have already arrived in the country, 95,000 of which went to the archipelagos. Until Saturday 1.3 million vaccines had been administered and, this week, another 177 thousand will be administered.

RASI – Annual Internal Security Report 2025

People who leave home are the most difficult to avoid visiting family and friends

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