Tourism nets €36.2Bn in 2025

Tourism continued to be one of the main economic drivers of Portugal’s economy in 2025, representing around 11.8% of Portugal’s GDP.

This is according the Tourism Satellite Account published by the National Statistics Institute (INE) which noted that compared to 2024, tourism’s total contribution to GDP rose by 5.3% while its contribution to Gross Value Added (GVA) increased by 5.5%.

But while tourism’s contribution to real GDP growth remains positive, INE data show that this contribution has been steadily declining in recent years.

In 2022, tourism accounted for 3.6% of Portugal’s overall GDP volume growth of 7.0%—a striking share reflecting the sector’s rapid rebound following the pandemic. By 2023, as the post-pandemic recovery matured, tourism’s share of GDP growth fell to 1.2 percentage points, out of total growth of 3.1%.

This downward trend continued into 2024 and 2025. Tourism contributed just 0.4% to GDP growth of 2.2% in 2024, and only 0.3% to GDP growth of 1.9% in 2025. In other words, although the tourism sector is still expanding and adding value in cash terms, it is playing an increasingly modest role in driving the country’s overall real economic growth.

Source: INE / Essential-business.pt written by Christopher Graeme