page_title: Algarve
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Algarve / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: Apartment buildings at Praia da Rocha, Portimão.
context_page_description: The Algarve is the southernmost region of continental Portugal. It has an area of 4,997 km² with 451,006 permanent inhabitants, and incorporates 16 municipalities.
  The region has its administrative centre in the city of Faro, where both the region's international airport and public university, the University of Algarve, are located. The region coincides with Faro District. Tourism and related activities are extensive and make up the bulk of the Algarve's summer economy. Production of food, which includes fish and other seafood, different types of fruit such as oranges, figs, plums, carob beans, and almonds, are also economically important in the region.
  Although Lisbon surpasses the Algarve in terms of tourism revenue, the Algarve is still, overall, considered to be the biggest and most important Portuguese tourist region, having received an estimated total of 7.1 million tourists in 2017. Its population triples in the peak holiday season due to seasonal residents.
context_section_description: Agricultural products of the region include fig, almond, orange, carob bean, strawberry tree, and cork oak. Horticulture is important and the region's landscape is known for the large areas of land covered with plastic greenhouses which are used to that end. Fishing and aquaculture are important activities in the coastal area of the Algarve, with sardines, soles, cyprinids, gilt-head bream, and various seafood, including the grooved carpet shell, being the major products. The Algarve's wines are also renowned. Four wines in the region have Protected Designation of Origin (Denominação de Origem Controlada – DOC): Lagoa DOC, Lagos DOC, Portimão DOC, and Tavira DOC. Food processing, cement and construction are the main industries. Tourism-related activities are extensive and make up the bulk of the Algarve's economy during summer. The Algarve's economy has always been closely linked to the sea, and fishing has been an important activity since ancient times. Only since the 1960s has the region embraced tourism, which has become its most important economic activity. With the increase in life quality and purchasing power, many shopping malls have been constructed, mostly in the past 15–20 years. Recently, an Ikea opened in Loulé, one of five in Portugal.
  In 2017, the Algarve was the Portuguese region that experienced the biggest economic growth, an increase of 4.6% of its GDP.
caption: A complex of apartments overlooking the beach in Praia da Rocha, Portimão. The Algarve relies heavily on the tourism industry.
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