In 2023, the share of travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP in European Union member countries and the United Kingdom remained in most cases below the figures reported before the COVID-19 pandemic, but showed strong signs of recovery. Overall, Croatia was the EU country where travel and tourism contributed the highest share of gross domestic product in 2023. That year, these industries generated, directly and indirectly, nearly ** percent of the country's GDP. Portugal and Greece followed in the ranking in 2023, with travel and tourism representing **** percent and **** percent of GDP, respectively.

In 2024, the United States was the country worldwide with the highest total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP. That year, the total GDP contribution of travel and tourism in the U.S. amounted to around *** trillion U.S. dollars, exceeding pre-pandemic levels. China and Germany followed in the ranking, with figures of around *** trillion and *** trillion U.S. dollars, respectively. Overall, the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP worldwide reached almost ** trillion U.S. dollars in 2024. What are the most visited countries worldwide? While the U.S. and China reported the highest figures in terms of travel and tourism contribution to GDP in 2024, it was a European destination that led the ranking of countries with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide. With over *** million international arrivals in 2024, France was the most visited travel destination in the world that year. How many people work in the global travel and tourism sector? After declining sharply due to the impact of COVID-19, the number of travel and tourism jobs worldwide bounced back in 2024, reaching over *** million, surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

Global Total Tourism GDP by Country, 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

In 2019, Macau generated the highest share of GDP through direct travel and tourism of any other economy worldwide, with over half its GDP coming from this sector. Macau is a city and a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China - its economy is largely based on casino gaming and tourism. The nation with the second highest share of GDP generated by direct travel and tourism was the Maldives. The country began to develop its travel and tourism industry in 1970s and now over 30 percent of GDP is coming from this sector in 2019.

What is GDP?

GDP is the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year. It is considered an important indicator of the economic strength of a country and a positive change is an indicator of economic growth.

What is direct contribution to GDP? The direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP reflects the ‘internal’ spending on travel and tourism (total spending within a particular country on travel and tourism by residents and non-residents for business and leisure purposes) as well as government 'individual' spending - spending by government on travel and tourism services directly linked to visitors, such as cultural (e.g. museums) or recreational (e.g. national parks).

In 2024, Panama was estimated to be the most tourism-dependent economy in Latin America, with the sector accounting for 15.3 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). El Salvador followed in the ranking that year, with a share of tourism contribution to GDP above 15 percent too.

Contributing a staggering *** trillion U.S. dollars to China’s GDP in 2023, the travel and tourism industry proved to be a vital industry for the East Asian country’s economy. This pivotal industry provided huge GDP contributions to a number of countries across the Asia-Pacific region. Japan and India both saw impressive figures, while Southeast Asia alone has experienced constant GDP increases from the travel and tourism industry. Why Asia-Pacific The travel and tourism industry has made significant monetary additions to many developing economies throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Southeast Asia stands in the foreground as one of the regions which relies heavily on its tourism success. A success which could be inferred through the rising number of tourist arrivals to the ASEAN states. A likely reason why APAC has become one of the leading regions for tourism, could be related to its competitive prices. Many countries in the Asia-Pacific region are cheaper than the usual Western tourist hotspots, in this way, the region has begun to appeal to an increasing number of international travelers. Domestic tourism The Asia-Pacific region has not only attracted international tourists throughout recent years but has also received a great influx of domestic tourists. Growing economies in the region, resulting in an emerging middle class, have made the possibility of increased domestic travel a reality. Intra-regional tourism accounted for approximately half of APAC’s tourism.

The average for 2020 based on 20 countries was 2.59 percent. The highest value was in Croatia: 9.72 percent and the lowest value was in Romania: 0.64 percent. The indicator is available from 1995 to 2020. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In 2019, Total Tourism GDP in Iceland rose 4.5points compared to the previous year.

Dataset Overview 📝

This dataset includes key tourism and economic indicators for over 200 countries, spanning the years from 1999 to 2023. It covers a wide range of data related to tourism arrivals, expenditures, receipts, GDP, unemployment, and inflation, helping to explore the relationship between tourism and economic growth globally.

Tourism & Economic Indicators:

• tourism_receipts 💰: The total income a country generates from international tourism, measured in current US dollars.
• tourism_arrivals 🌍: The total number of international tourists who arrive in a country, measured in count.
• tourism_expenditures 🛍️: The amount of money spent by international tourists within the country, measured in current US dollars.
• tourism_exports 📈: The percentage of a country’s total exports derived from international tourism receipts.
• tourism_departures ✈️: The number of citizens or residents of a country who travel abroad for tourism.
• tourism_expenditures 🛫: The percentage of a country’s total imports spent on international tourism.
• gdp 📊: The total value of all goods and services produced in a country, expressed in current US dollars.
• inflation 📉: The annual percentage change in the average price of goods and services in a country.
• unemployment 👷‍♂️: The percentage of people within the labor force who are unemployed but actively seeking work.

Data Source 🌐

• World Bank: The dataset is sourced from the World Bank’s economic and tourism databases, offering reliable and up-to-date statistics on global tourism and economic indicators.

Potential Use Cases 🔍

• Tourism & Economic Impact Analysis 🌏: Analyzing the contribution of tourism to a country’s GDP, as well as how tourism spending impacts national economies.
• Cross-Country Comparison 📊: Comparing tourism arrivals, expenditures, and receipts relative to GDP and unemployment across countries and regions.
• Predictive Modeling 🤖: Building models to predict the future impact of tourism on economic growth and identify emerging trends.
• Policy Evaluation 🏛️: Helping policymakers assess the role of tourism in economic planning, especially regarding inflation and unemployment.
• Economic Forecasting 📈: Using historical data to forecast how tourism will influence economic conditions, helping in the development of economic policies.

Key Questions You Can Explore 🤔

• How do tourism receipts correlate with GDP growth in different countries? 💵
• What is the relationship between tourism expenditure and inflation rates? 📉
• How do tourism arrivals and departures vary by region and what are the key drivers? 🌍
• What role does tourism play in shaping unemployment rates across countries? 👥
• Which countries have seen the largest increase in tourism receipts over the past two decades? 📊

Important Notes ⚠️

• Missing Data 🚨: Some values may be missing for certain years or countries, especially for specific tourism indicators. Techniques like forward filling, backward filling, or interpolation may help in handling missing values during time series analysis.
• Currency & Inflation Adjustments 💲: When comparing tourism receipts and expenditures across countries, consider adjusting for inflation and exchange rates to ensure accurate year-on-year comparisons.

Sri Lanka Tourism Contribution: GDP data was reported at 2.500 % in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.800 % for 2020. Sri Lanka Tourism Contribution: GDP data is updated yearly, averaging 3.400 % from Dec 2018 (Median) to 2023, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 4.900 % in 2018 and a record low of 0.800 % in 2020. Sri Lanka Tourism Contribution: GDP data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Sri Lanka – Table LK.Q007: Tourism Receipts.

The average for 2020 based on 23 countries was 2.13 percent. The highest value was in the Seychelles: 16.49 percent and the lowest value was in Guinea: 0.01 percent. The indicator is available from 1995 to 2020. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Tourism Revenues in Greece decreased to 3421.30 EUR Million in September from 4523.70 EUR Million in August of 2025. This dataset provides - Greece Tourism Receipts- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

📝 About the Dataset

This dataset provides a comprehensive view of global tourism indicators, covering multiple economic and travel-related variables for countries across several years. It is built to support Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA), predictive modeling, economic research, time-series trend analysis, and machine learning preprocessing.

Each row represents a specific country-year record, containing tourism performance metrics, economic indicators, and travel expenditure information. The dataset is clean, structured, and ideal for producing insights about international tourism patterns and their economic impacts.

🎯 Purpose of the Dataset

This dataset is well-suited for:

• Tourism trend analysis
• Country-wise comparative analysis
• Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) practice
• Outlier detection and handling
• Feature engineering & preprocessing techniques
• Correlation analysis between tourism and economy
• Visualization projects
• Machine learning model preparation

📂 Columns & Data Dictionary (Based on Your File)

1. country

• Type: String
• Description: Full name of the country.

2. country_code

• Type: String
• Description: 3-letter ISO country code (e.g., IND, USA, AFG).

3. year

• Type: Integer
• Description: The year for which tourism and economic indicators are recorded.

4. tourism_receipts

• Type: Float (USD)
• Description: Total international tourism receipts for the country in that year.
• Represents income generated from foreign visitors.

5. tourism_arrivals

• Type: Float
• Description: Total number of international tourist arrivals.
• Useful for understanding travel demand.

6. tourism_exports

• Type: Float
• Description: Tourism-related exports, including money spent by inbound tourists on goods/services.

7. tourism_departures

• Type: Float
• Description: Number of outbound tourists from the country in the recorded year.

8. tourism_expenditures

• Type: Float
• Description: Outbound tourism expenditures—money spent by citizens traveling abroad.

9. gdp

• Type: Float (USD)
• Description: Gross Domestic Product of the country.
• Helps relate tourism activity to economic performance.

10. inflation

• Type: Float (percentage)
• Description: Inflation rate for the country during that year.

11. unemployment

• Type: Float (percentage)
• Description: Unemployment rate for the country.
• Useful for socio-economic correlation studies.

🔍 Key Insights the Dataset Can Produce

With these variables, you can analyze:

• Trends in global tourism
• Whether GDP affects tourism demand
• Relationship between inflation and travel spending
• Tourism arrivals vs receipts correlation
• Economic growth driven by tourism
• Country-level tourism performance comparison
• Travel behavior based on expenditures & departures

📁 File Format

• CSV format
• Clean column names
• Each row = country + year records

Papua New Guinea: International tourism revenue, percent of GDP: The latest value from 2018 is 0.02 percent, a decline from 0.07 percent in 2017. In comparison, the world average is 7.64 percent, based on data from 154 countries. Historically, the average for Papua New Guinea from 2003 to 2018 is 0.06 percent. The minimum value, 0.01 percent, was reached in 2014 while the maximum of 0.19 percent was recorded in 2005.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Lebanon's travel and tourism industry contributed about 4.2 percent to its gross domestic product (GDP), compared to about 19.4 percent in 2019 prior to the pandemic. Most Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries had a negative GDP growth in that year except Egypt.

Direct contribution to GDP

The European System of Accounts does not include the production of the tourism sector as such. The need to characterise the tourism industry and assess its contribution to the entire economic activity, justifies the statistical operation called Tourism Satellite Account. It analyses tourism as an economic phenomenon from supply and demand, elaborates the main macromagnitudes of the sector for the Basque Country, and calculates the evolution of its weight compared to Gross Domestic Product at market prices.

In 2023, Mexico was the Latin American country with the largest total contribution of the travel and tourism sector to the gross domestic product (GDP), with over 260 billion U.S. dollars. Brazil was second on the list that year, as travel and tourism contributed approximately 104 billion U.S. dollars to its GDP.

This dataset provides gross international tourism earnings for Pacific Islands Countries and Territories (PICTs) in domestic currencies and in US dollar, it also provides amounts per visitor and as percentage of GDP.

Find more Pacific data on PDH.stat.

Antigua and Barbuda was the Caribbean economy that relied the most on travel and tourism in 2022, with this sector accounting for more than 90 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). Aruba followed that year as the Caribbean island with the second-largest share of GDP from tourism.