Press Release 12/03/2021
Tourism spending accounted for 6.4% of GDP in the Basque Country in 2019
In 2019, tourism spending was up in all three Basque provinces, reaching 8% of GDP in Gipuzkoa
In 2019, tourism spending in the Basque Country increased by 3.9% on the previous financial year. For the first time, it exceeded 5,000 million euros and accounted for 6.4% of GDP, according to Eustat data.
Tourism spending is comprised of two groups: Inbound tourism, which includes tourism spending in the Basque Country of visitors from abroad and the rest of Spain, and Other tourism components, which are obtained by adding tourism spending of Basque residents in the Basque Country itself (including expenditure at origin, before travelling), expenditure of the Public Administrations on programmes related to tourism and Gross Capital Formation of the branches of activity characteristic of tourism.
In 2019, Inbound tourism contributed 59.8% of tourism spending and, in the period 2010-2019, its contribution increased by 7.8 percentage points. The reason for this is that, over this period, it has grown by 60.8%, compared to 17.2% in the other group, Other tourism components.
The information gathered in the Tourism Satellite Account allows a tourism balance to be calculated for the Basque Country, which is defined as the difference between Inbound tourism and Outbound tourism, where the latter is spending by residents of the Basque Country on their tourist trips outside the Basque Country.
The tourism balance of the Basque Country is negative and stood at 1,702 million euros in 2019, a similar figure to 2010 and 2011. In the period 2010-2019, it was at its lowest in 2016 with 1,232 million euros.
Tourism spending continued to increase in all three Basque Country provinces
In 2019, tourism spending increased in all three provinces, but at different rates. Gipuzkoa performed best, with a 5.6% increase in spending, compared to 3.0% in Bizkaia and 2.1% in Álava. In line with this performance, Gipuzkoa’s share of tourism spending in the Basque Country increased by 0.7 percentage points to 42.2%, close to that of Bizkaia, at 44.5%, with Álava contributing 13.3%.
As regards the economy of each province, tourism had a higher share in Gipuzkoa, where it accounted for 8.0% of GDP, and a lower share in Bizkaia, with 5.6%, and Álava, with 5.4%.
Note: The data in the Tourism Satellite Account have been revised and updated. The new series since 2010 is available in the Eustat Databank.
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