Unemployment benefit in Portugal: how the amount and duration are calculated in 2026

What the unemployment benefit is

The unemployment benefit (subsídio de desemprego) is a Social Security payment for people who lose their job through no fault of their own, for example in a dismissal or at the end of a fixed-term contract the employer does not renew¹. It replaces part of your salary while you look for a new job.

To qualify, you must meet the qualifying period (prazo de garantia): at least 360 days of work with contributions to Social Security in the 24 months before the date of unemployment. You must also register at the job centre and claim within 90 days².

Two questions sum up what everyone wants to know: how much will I get per month, and for how long. Let's take each in turn.

How much: 65% of the reference remuneration

The monthly benefit is 65% of the reference remuneration².

The reference remuneration is the average pay over the first 12 of the last 14 months before unemployment, including the holiday and Christmas bonuses. In practice, from your monthly salary it is worked out like this:

Reference remuneration = monthly salary × 14 ÷ 12

The × 14 brings in the 12 months of salary plus the two bonuses; the ÷ 12 turns the total into a monthly figure. Then the rate is applied:

Monthly benefit = reference remuneration × 65%

For example, on a 1,000 EUR salary the reference remuneration is 1,000 × 14 ÷ 12 = 1,166.67 EUR, and the benefit is 65% of that, about 758 EUR a month.

The limits: minimum and maximum tied to the IAS

The 65% does not apply without brakes. The monthly benefit has a minimum and a maximum tied to the IAS (Social Support Index), which in 2026 is 537.13 EUR³:

The reinforced floor of 1.15 × IAS (617.70 EUR) applies when the salary used in the calculation reaches the national minimum wage (920 EUR in 2026)⁴. There is also an exception: if the net reference remuneration (after Social Security and IRS) is below the IAS, you receive that net amount instead of the floor.

Finally, the benefit cannot exceed 75% of the net reference remuneration. For low salaries, where IRS is zero, the calculator applies this cap exactly; for higher salaries, IRS withholding lowers the net amount and the real benefit can be a little lower. In those cases, confirm the exact figure on Segurança Social Direta.

For how long: the benefit duration

How long you receive (the benefit duration) depends on your age and the number of months with salary registration since the last spell of unemployment²:

On top of this base period, an add-on applies for each 5 years of salary registration in the last 20 years: 30 days under 40, 45 days from 40 to 49 and 60 days from 50. The calculator adds the two and converts to months.

Worked example

Take a 1,000 EUR monthly salary, 40 years old, 24 months of contributions since the last unemployment and 10 years of career in the last 20:

• Reference remuneration: 1,000 EUR × 14 ÷ 12 = 1,166.67 EUR.
• Monthly benefit: 65% of 1,166.67 EUR = 758.33 EUR (above the 617.70 EUR floor and below the 1,342.83 EUR ceiling).
• Base period: at 40, with 24 months or more of contributions, 540 days.
• Add-on: 10 years of career give 2 five-year periods × 45 days = 90 days.
• Total duration: 540 + 90 = 630 days, about 21 months.

Altogether, that is roughly 15,925 EUR over the period. Run the numbers with your own values in the unemployment benefit calculator.

The 10% increase (majoração)

The benefit is increased by 10% in two situations²:

• When your spouse or partner is also unemployed and you both have dependent children.
• When you are the sole carer of the children (single-parent household), without receiving maintenance.

The increase must be requested from Social Security with the relevant form (RP 5059).

What this guide does not cover

To be an honest estimate, some situations are left out:

• The social unemployment benefit (subsídio social de desemprego), paid to people who do not meet the qualifying period or have exhausted the benefit, which is means-tested (it depends on household income).
• The self-employed, whose support is the subsídio por cessação de atividade, with its own rules.
• The IRS that feeds the 75% net cap, which this calculator does not compute.
• The transitional regime for people who already had a right to the benefit before April 2012.

After estimating the benefit, see how much you would get in severance pay and how your salary translates into net pay in the net salary calculator. For specific cases, always confirm on Segurança Social Direta.