Lisbon, July 9, 2026 (Lusa) - The number of tourists arriving in Portugal rose by 3.3% in 2025 to 29.9 million, a moderation compared with the 9.3% growth recorded in 2024, Statistics Portugal (INE) announced on Thursday.
The Spanish market remained the leading source market, despite a 0.6% decline, accounting for 23.8% of total volume.
The UK market (11.9% of the total) remained the second-largest source market and was the only one among the top three source markets for international tourists to record growth (+1.9%).
This was followed by the French market (10.9% of the total), which saw a 2.9% drop.
In 2025, average expenditure per tourist per trip fell by 4.2% compared with 2024, standing at €265.
Tourist accommodation establishments as a whole recorded 34.8 million guests, resulting in 89.7 million overnight stays in 2025, corresponding to increases of 2.2% and 1.6%, respectively.
The domestic market generated 29.5 million overnight stays in 2025, accounting for 32.9% of total overnight stays and representing a 3.5% increase compared with the previous year. International markets accounted for 60.2 million overnight stays, reflecting annual growth of 0.6%.
In 2025, 70 municipalities recorded more overnight stays by non-residents than by residents.
Overnight stays by non-residents accounted for 67.1% of all overnight stays across all types of accommodation in 2025; this was one of the years, since 2013, with the greatest dependence on international markets, surpassed only by 2017 and 2024, when these markets accounted for 67.8% and 67.7% of the total, respectively. Compared with 2024, dependence on external markets, measured by overnight stays, fell by 0.6 percentage points (p.p.).
The seasonality rate fell to 36.4%, reaching its lowest level since 2013. This indicator was higher among residents (40.4%) than among non-residents (34.4%), although it decreased in both groups.
Tourist trips by residents reached 26 million, up 13.7%, driven by domestic travel, which rose 14% year over year to 22.2 million, and overseas travel, which grew 12.5% from 2024 to 3.9 million.
Alentejo continued to record the highest seasonality rate (43.6%, as in 2024), followed by the Setúbal Peninsula (41.4%, down from 42.2%).
Conversely, the Autonomous Region of Madeira and Greater Lisbon recorded the lowest figures for this indicator (29.7% and 30.3%, down from 29.5% and 30.0%, respectively).
Looking at overnight stays by residents, the Algarve was the only region with a seasonality rate above 50% (55.9%). Conversely, Greater Lisbon and the Autonomous Region of the Azores recorded the lowest figures for this indicator (28.0% and 30.3%, respectively).
With regard to overnight stays by non-residents, the Autonomous Region of the Azores (46.9%) and the Centre (42.0%) recorded the highest seasonality rates. Conversely, the Autonomous Region of Madeira (28.8%) and Greater Lisbon (30.8%) recorded the lowest figures for this indicator.
AJR/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
