Minas Gerais closed 2025 with a -4.4% drop in tourism while Brazil grew 4.6%. High interest rates and household debt weigh on the sector.
December breaks three-month growth streak
Tourism activity in Minas Gerais fell -1.6% in December 2025 compared to November, snapping three consecutive months of growth. Over the same period, the national average edged up 0.2%, according to data from Brazil’s Monthly Services Survey (PMS) by IBGE, analyzed by the Economic Studies Center of Fecomércio MG.
Year-over-year, the drop was even steeper: -8.9% compared to December 2024, reversing the 6.1% gain the state had posted in that same month the previous year. The national average also declined, but more moderately, at -5.5%.
Annual figures reveal a widening gap
From January through December 2025, Minas Gerais recorded a -4.4% contraction in tourism — a stark contrast with Brazil’s 4.6% growth over the same period, which itself exceeded the 3.6% accumulated result from 2024.
Interest rates and debt drain consumer spending
Tourism activity in Minas Gerais shows a loss of momentum in 2025, reflected in the negative accumulated result for the year, in contrast with national performance. This scenario is intensified by negative cyclical factors, marked by high interest rates that reduce purchasing power and make credit more expensive, compounded by household debt, which slows consumption and directly impacts a sector as dependent on domestic demand as tourism — making continuous investment essential to stimulate and develop the sector. — Fernanda Gonçalves, economist at Fecomércio MG
Gonçalves also notes that, statistically, sustaining 2024’s performance in 2025 would have required growth above the prior year’s rate — enough to offset the higher comparison base inherited from the sector’s recent strong showing.
The analysis underscores the urgency of sustained investment in Minas Gerais tourism, particularly as expensive credit and family debt continue to suppress domestic consumption.
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