Airbnb’s economic impact – $6.7 billion pumped into Brazil’s São Paulo state

Airbnb generated approximately $6.7 billion in economic activity across São Paulo state last year, according to a new study commissioned by the platform and conducted by the Fundação Getulio Vargas, the largest single-state Airbnb footprint in Brazil by a wide margin.

The figures come from the second edition of the FGV report “Airbnb: Impactos e Benefícios Econômicos no Brasil,” which InfoMoney received exclusively.

Using an input-output methodology that tracks how guest and host spending ripples through short-term rental markets, FGV found São Paulo accounted for roughly 30 percent of Airbnb’s $22.3 billion national economic footprint in 2025 — a 13 percent jump from the year prior.

São Paulo’s Airbnb economy: jobs, taxes, and GDP impact

The state total supported more than 208,000 jobs and generated $591 million in tax revenue. São Paulo city alone drove about $2.2 billion of that activity, a 16 percent increase over 2024, with more than 71,000 jobs and over $184 million in taxes attributed to platform activity.

Across Brazil, the FGV study estimated Airbnb contributed approximately $12.4 billion to national GDP while sustaining more than 700,000 jobs nationwide.

Related: Vacation rentals now outperform hotels on guest loyalty, study shows

The state growth numbers, 9 percent for São Paulo overall, 16 percent for the capital, landed even as Brazil’s macro environment remained challenging, with elevated interest rates keeping mortgage costs high and compressing disposable income.

That the short-term rental sector expanded at those rates suggests platform-driven travel is increasingly insulated from broader economic headwinds. Nights booked by Brazilian travelers on Airbnb rose more than 20 percent in Q1 2026, the third consecutive quarter at that pace.

The study’s release puts fresh data behind a debate that regulators across Latin America are tracking closely, with Airbnb’s political spending rising in parallel with its economic weight.

Brazil’s next FGV update, expected to cover 2026 activity, will be the first to capture whether the Q1 booking surge translates into another double-digit economic gain, or whether tightening condo rules and rising supply begin to flatten the curve.