Portugal was the country of choice for US, French and Italian nationals looking to buy a retirement or second home in Europe in 2018. According to a study produced by ListGlobally, the largest online property platform in the world for house seekers, Portugal was the number one property investment destination for the French (34%), Americans (5.68%) and Italians (6.04%). In 2018 the intention to buy from overseas citizens was centred mainly around Faro (22%), Lisbon (11%) and Setúbal (8%). Théo Plantier, who focuses on the Portuguese market for ListGlobally states that “Portugal is a very attractive country because despite an across-the-board rise in house prices per square metre, it is still one of the cheapest countries in Europe to buy a house, representing 20% of all of house sales.

Exemption will remain for those who already have it but new applicants will have a minimum tax. The government is now looking to make slight changes to these benefits. The idea is to keep the benefits for those that already have it and there will be reductions on new applications.

For the first time, the Algarve has picked up the award for the Best Beach Destination in the World from the 2020 World Travel Awards. Following being given the distinction at a European level, the Algarve has beaten off competition from around the world to be crowned the best beach destination, coming ahead of 18 other nominees which included destinations in the Maldives, Thailand, Jamaica, Mexico and the USA.

The state budget has changed the formula for calculating vehicle tax applied to second hand cars imported from the European Union and has begun to take the environmental component into account to reduce tax depending on the age of the vehicle.

The American economy site Business Insider has put together a list of 100 beaches from around the world that all citizens should visit "at least once in life"and two of them are in Portugal (Algarve), Praia de Benagil, and Caneiros Beach (in the municipality of Lagoa) , are considered by the site "must-see".