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Demand Stemming from Tourism Now Accounts for 13.7% of GDP in Portugal

17 December 2018

The National Institute of Statistics (INE) announced that in 2017, tourism demand reached the equivalent of 13.7% of GDP, increasing by 14.5% over the previous year.

In 2017, the revenues generated by tourism also increased by 13.6% in nominal terms, after a 6.6% increase in 2016, reaching 7.5% of the GVA of the national economy. In 2016, tourism-based employment accounted for 9.4% of total domestic employment.

In the same year, Tourism Consumption in the Economic Territory (CTTE) reached a scale equivalent to 13.7% of the GDP, increasing by 14.5% over the previous year.

In 2016, receipts from inbound tourism (tourism exports, corresponding to spending by non-residents in Portugal) were the most relevant component of the CTTE (63.1%), increasing by 8.6% over 2015. Expenditures on domestic tourism and other components grew by 3.0%. Employment in tourism-related activities, measured in full-time equivalent (FTE), accounted for 9.4% of the national total. Employment in activities linked to tourism increased by 4.8%, exceeding the total employment growth in the national economy (2.1%).

The estimated CTTE growth rate for 2017 (+14.5%) is the highest in the current Tourism Satellite Account (CST) series (2014-2017). In 2016, tourism expenditure continued to be the most important component of tourist demand (63.1%), increasing by 8.6% over the previous year and reaching a series high.

The INE also noted that, considering the information available to European countries, in the various sources consulted for the years 2014 to 2016, the relative importance of tourism demand (CTTE), expressed by its relation with GDP, was highest in Portugal (12.5%).

Original Story: Diário Imobiliário

Translation: Richard Turner