Czech
PRAGUE: The Czech capital among the TOP10
THE ECONOMY
The Czech economy expanded by 2.4% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025., marking its fastest growth rate since mid-2022, according to revised data released by the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ). On a quarter-on-quarter basis, GDP increased by 0.7 % slightly below the preliminary reading of 0.8 %. The uptick was largely fueled by robust househols consumption, continued government spending, and domestic inventory buildup, even as net exports exerted a negative influence on overal performance.
Czech industry remains in recession. Industrial production fell by 3.4% year-on-year in June 2025, while the analysts’ consensus according to Reuters expected an annual decline of 2.9%. The year-on-year decline was thus slightly deeper than the 3.2% in May.
TOP 10 GDP Countries 2025: United States, China, Germany, India, Japan, UK, France, Italy, Canada, Brazil.
THE TRAVEL & TOURISM
The number of visitors to mass accommodation facilities (HUZ) is growing. In 2024, 22.8 million guests came to domestic hotels, guesthouses and other HUZ, spending 57.3 million nights there. A total of 54 % (12.3 million) were domestic tourists, while 46 % (10.2 million) were international visitors. The average length of stay was 3.5 days. In terms of arrivals, the Czech Republic reached its highest ever level since 2012. Year-on-year, the number of foreigners increased by almost 10%.
Prague remains on of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe. Around 8.1 million tourists visited the Czech capital in 2024, marking a 9 % increase compared to the previous year. The largest number of foreign visitors came from Germany (1,054,347), the United States (492,748), and the United Kingdom (472,391). The growing trend of travellers from Asian markets also continues.
THE MICE INDUSTRY
The Czech capital has reaffirmed its position among the top 10 most sought-after meeting destinations in the world, despite the growing competition of Asian cities. The year’s ranking (2024) was dominated by Vienna, followed by Lisbon, Singapore and Barcelona, with Prague in the fifth place. According to data from the Czech Statistical Office, a total of 5,139 events of various types took place in Prague in 2024, which is 5.1% more in comparison with the previous year. However, compared with the record year of 2019, this represents 86.5 % of all events held. The number of hosted delegates reached 804,000 people, and they spent an average of 2.27 days in Prague.
Prague improved on its previous year’s performance and now holds a prestigious 5th place globally. Within Europe, the city has even climbed to 4th place.
The Czech Republic hosted 175 association meetings in 2024, a jump of 18 compared to the previous year, highlighting the growth of the MICE sector. Overall tourism reached and surpassed pre-plandemia (2019) levels, indicating a full recovery for the industry.
According to data from the Czech Statistical Office, approximately 12,000 conferences were held in the Czech Republic in 2024, attended by nearly 1.2 million delegates. Around a third (35.4 %) of these events took place in Prague. The South Moravian Region also made a notable contribution, hosting 2,213 events. The Vysočina, Olomouc each hosted around 900 events. Most of these were one-day events, which accounted for 70% of the total volume.
