POSITIVE BALANCE OF MORE THAN 5 BILLION EUROS

These are the highest numbers in the history of Portuguese tourism: 2011 was the year in which foreign tourists left more money in Portugal, in which the Portuguese spent more on their trips abroad and in which the positive balance between expenses and income was higher for the national balance.
According to figures from the Bank of Portugal, the indicator that saw the greatest growth was the balance between expenditure and capital inflows: an increase of 523.5 million euros (11.3%), to reach an amount of 5,171.99 million of euros.
This increase can be explained mainly on the revenue side: foreigners who visited Portugal in 2011 spent a total of 8,145.5 million euros, which means an increase of 544.28 million (7.2%) compared to 2010.
Despite the recessive situation, Portuguese spending on travel and foreign tourism increased by 20.7 million euros (0.7%) to 2,973.56 million.
With these numbers, Portugal reinforced the 2010 trend (10.8% increase in the balance between expenses and income, to 4,648.4 million) and returned to double-digit growth, with which it surpassed, for the first time since records, the five billion euros of positive balance in the tourist trade balance.