Foreign tourists holidaying in Portugal are spending less and less money in the country. According to the latest data from Turismo de Portugal, based on statistics from SIBS and published by Jornal de Negócios, the average value of transactions has dropped to its lowest level since 2019. The overall average spend per foreign transaction was just 35.70 euros in the first half of 2026. But here’s the twist: even with this decline, the volume of purchases made with foreign cards grew by 6%, surpassing a whopping 3.7 billion euros in total.
Now, where’s all this cash going? Well, it turns out that accommodation, restaurants, and shops are still raking in a significant share of that spending. The retail sector alone accounted for the largest chunk of foreign expenditure in the first half of the year, totalling around 1.4 billion euros. And let’s not forget the restaurant sector, which recorded over 1 billion euros in spending, while accommodation establishments logged about 735 million euros in electronic payments.
More than half of the foreign expenditure is concentrated in the Greater Lisbon area, taking up 35.7% of the pie, and the Algarve region, which claims 21.6%. Meanwhile, Northern Portugal accounts for a mere 1.9% of tourists’ purchases, which is pretty low if you ask me.
When you break it down by nationality, British tourists are leading the charge, having made an impressive 16 million electronic transactions in the country, racking up a total spend of 518 million euros. On the other hand, tourists from the United States are in second place when it comes to being big spenders, but they only managed to generate 2.4 million euros—far below what the British visitors brought in.
Despite the differences in overall spending, there’s an interesting twist in their consumption patterns. You see, while British visitors tend to make more purchases, North Americans are the ones who splash out the most per transaction, averaging about 45 euros each time they swipe their card.
So, what does this all mean for Portugal’s tourism sector? Are these spending habits a sign of changing times, or just a temporary blip? Well, that’s something to keep an eye on as we move further into the year…
Kaynak: Orijinal Haber