Portugal's tourism sector delivers record growth

The sector's direct and indirect impact also extended to 11.4% (€30.4 billion) of the national economy's Gross Value Added (GVA), underlining the scale of tourism's footprint across Portuguese industry and services.

In nominal terms, both figures represent healthy year-on-year growth. Compared with 2024, tourism's total contribution to GDP rose by 5.3%, while its contribution to GVA increased by 5.5%.

These increases confirm that, in absolute monetary terms, tourism remains one of the most dynamic and valuable sectors of the Portuguese economy, generating billions of euros in economic activity each year.

However, a closer look at the figures reveals a more nuanced picture. 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.

This pattern likely reflects the natural moderation that follows an exceptional recovery period. The extraordinary growth rates seen in 2022 and 2023 were largely driven by pent-up demand and the reopening of international travel after COVID-19 restrictions. As tourism activity normalises and growth rates across the wider economy diversify, its relative contribution to real GDP expansion was always likely to soften.

Nevertheless, with tourism consumption still worth tens of billions of euros annually, the sector remains a cornerstone of Portugal's economic identity—vital not only for its direct output, but for the wide range of industries it supports, from hospitality and transport to retail and property.

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