Portugal’s GDP contracted by 7.6% in 2020, according to data released by the National Institute of Statistics (INE), almost double the 4.1% decline in 2012.
Nine years ago austerity measures were imposed, after the Lisbon authorities have requested international financial assistance.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, Portugal’s GDP grew by only 0.2%, after an advance of 13.3% in the previous three months.
Portugal’s booming tourism sector saw in 2020 its worst annual results since the mid-1980s and to date, due to various global bans and restrictions in the context of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID -19).
Thus, just under four million tourists traveled to Portugal in 2020, a decrease of almost 76% compared to the record 16.4 million tourists recorded in 2019.
Even more, the number of overnight stays of non-residents fell by 75% to 12.3 million – the lowest level since 1984 and to date.
