Press release 17/12/2019

TOURISM SATELLITE ACCOUNT. 2018(a)

Tourist spending increased by 4.0% in the Basque Country and accounted for 6.1% of GDP in 2018

It accounted for 7.6% of GDP in Gipuzkoa, 5.4% in Bizkaia and 5.1% in Álava

Compared to the previous year, total tourist spending in the Basque Country in 2018 rose by 4.0%. This represented 6.1% of GDP for that year, the same as in 2017, according to data prepared by EUSTAT. In absolute terms, spending went from 4,474 million in 2017 to 4,651 million in 2018.

In terms of the components of tourist spending, this increase in spending in the Basque Country occurred mainly in Inbound Tourism, which increased by 6.8%, i.e. spending by tourists and day-trippers who come from abroad or the rest of Spain and, to a lesser extent, in Other components of tourist spending (+0.8%). Thus, the proportion of inbound tourism in overall spending reached 54.4% in 2018, up 1.4 points compared to 2017.

The item Other components of tourist spending includes spending by tourists and day-trippers from the Basque Country in the Region itself, spending on tourism related programmes by Basque public administrations and, finally, the gross capital formation (investment) of companies pertaining to the characteristic branches of tourism.

In turn, the deficit generated by the difference between inbound tourism spending (journeys and trips by non-residents in the Basque Country) and outbound tourism spending (journeys and trips by Basque residents outside of the Basque Country) stood at 2,389 million euros in 2018, representing 3.1% of GDP. For the first time in the last five years, the tourism balance deficit decreased, falling by 71.6 million euros.

Tourist spending increased in all three territories in 2018

Gipuzkoa registered an increase of 4.4% in tourist spending, 0.4 points above the average; Bizkaia and Álava saw growth of 4.1% and 2.4%, respectively.

By province, tourist spending in Bizkaia represented 44.9% of the total in 2018, 41.5% in Gipuzkoa and, finally, 13.6% in Álava.



Gipuzkoa remained the province for which tourism acts as a driving force in the economy, accounting for 7.6% of GDP, a percentage which was maintained from the previous year. Bizkaia also maintained the weight of tourist spending on GDP compared to 2017 (5.4%). On the other hand, Álava dropped by one point, standing at 5.1% of GDP.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62