The tourism sector GDP share in the United Kingdom was forecast to increase between 2023 and 2028 by in total *** percentage points. This overall increase does not happen continuously, notably not in 2027. The share is estimated to amount to **** percent in 2028. While the share was forecast to increase significant in the next years, the increase will slow down in the future.Depited is the economic contribution of the tourism sector in relation to the gross domestic product of the country or region at hand.The forecast has been adjusted for the expected impact of COVID-19.The shown data are an excerpt of Statista's Key Market Indicators (KMI). The KMI are a collection of primary and secondary indicators on the macro-economic, demographic and technological environment in more than *** countries and regions worldwide. All input data are sourced from international institutions, national statistical offices, and trade associations. All data has been are processed to generate comparable datasets (see supplementary notes under details for more information).

In 2024, the direct and indirect contribution of travel and tourism to the United Kingdom's gross domestic product (GDP) was *** percent higher than in 2019, the year prior to the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Overall, these industries' total contribution to the country's GDP amounted to roughly *** billion British pounds in 2024. Has tourism in the UK recovered from the impact of COVID-19? While inbound resident visits to the UK dropped to just above ***** million in 2021 - the lowest figure reported in *** decades - the volume of inbound tourist visits to the United Kingdom rebounded in 2022, and grew to ** million in 2023. International arrivals, however, remained below pre-pandemic levels. Similarly, while outbound tourist visits from the UK experienced around a ******** increase in 2022 compared to the previous year, the country still reported around ***** million fewer trips abroad in 2023 than in 2019. What are the favorite holiday destinations among Britons? Either before or after the impact of the health crisis, vacationing remained the main travel purpose for outbound visits from the UK. In 2023, ***** was the most visited holiday destination by UK travelers, followed by *************************.

This statistic shows growth in the total contribution of the travel and tourism industry to GDP in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2012 to 2018, with a forecast for 2028. The growth rate stood at *** percent in 2017.

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, agriculture contributed around 0.56 percent to the United Kingdom’s GDP, 16.74 percent came from the manufacturing industry, and 72.79 percent from the services sector. The UK is not a farmer’s marketThe vast majority of the UK’s GDP is generated by the services sector, and tourism in particular keeps the economy going. In 2017, almost 214 billion British Pounds were contributed to the GDP through travel and tourism – about 277 billion U.S. dollars – and the forecasts see an upwards trend. For comparison, only an estimated 10.3 billion GBP were generated by the agriculture sector in the same year. But is it a tourist’s destination still? Though forecasts are not in yet, it is unclear whether travel and tourism can keep the UK’s economy afloat in the future, especially after Brexit and all its consequences. Higher travel costs, having to wait for visas, and overall more complicated travel arrangements are just some of the concerns tourists have when considering vacationing in the UK after Brexit. Consequences of the referendum are already observable in the domestic travel industry: In 2017, about 37 percent of British travelers said Brexit caused them to cut their holidays short by a few days, and about 14 percent said they did not leave the UK for their holidays because of it.

In 2024, the total contribution of travel and tourism to the global gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to 10.9 trillion U.S. dollars. This figure, which includes the direct, indirect, and induced impact of the global travel and tourism market, represented an increase in total contribution to GDP of 5.8 percent over 2019. As forecast, the total contribution of the travel and tourism sector to the global GDP was expected to reach 11.7 trillion U.S. dollars in 2025. Which countries record the highest travel and tourism contribution to 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 a country's economic strength, and a positive change in GDP is a sign of economic growth. Both before and after the impact of COVID-19, the United States and China were by far the leading travel markets based on the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP, followed by Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. What are the most visited countries in the world? In 2023, France was the country with the highest number of international tourist arrivals worldwide, welcoming 100 million international visitors. While the United States reported the third-highest number of inbound tourist arrivals that year, it was the destination with the highest international tourism receipts worldwide, ranking ahead of Spain and the United Kingdom.

This statistic presents a breakdown of the travel and tourism industry's total contribution to GDP in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2017, by type. The travel industry's indirect contribution accounted for **** percent of the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in 2017.

The United Kingdom Hospitality Market Segments by Sector (Accommodation, Food and Beverage Service Establishments, and More), by Service Model (Full-Service, Limited / Budget and More), by End-User (Leisure Travellers, Business Travellers and More), by Booking Channel (Direct, Online Travel Agencies, and More), by Ownership Model (Independent Operators and Chain / Branded), by Geography.

The tourism balance over the gross domestic product in the United Kingdom stayed stable in 2021 over the previous year. Overall, the tourism balance (calculated as the difference between inbound and outbound spending) over GDP reached minus *** percent in 2021, rising from minus *** percent in 2019.

This statistic presents the travel and tourism industry share of total economy GDP in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2000 to 2013. The share dropped to *** percent in 2008, rising to *** percent in 2012.

Domestic spending accounted for the highest share of travel and tourism spending in the United Kingdom in 2023. That year, the expenditure by domestic travelers made up **** percent of travel and tourism spending in the UK, experiencing a decrease of *** percentage points from 2019.

During the second quarter of 2025, visits abroad from the United Kingdom totaled ******million, which was an increase over the previous quarter. However, this figure remained below pre-pandemic levels for the same month. Over the period considered, monthly outbound visits from the UK peaked at around *****million in the third quarter of 2024. Tourism in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic turned the global tourism industry upside down, with countries worldwide enacting lockdowns and travel bans to limit the spread of the virus. As a result of the emergency measures, the total number of outbound tourist visits from the United Kingdom declined by ** percent in 2020 over the previous year, then dropped even further in 2021, reaching the lowest figure in a decade. Since then, outbound visitation rates not only recovered but reached a record high in 2024, totaling over ** million visits. However, inbound tourist visits in the UK have not recovered at the same rate, with the 2024 figure around five percent lower than in 2019. Contribution of travel and tourism to the economy in the UK In 2024, the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in the UK amounted to *** billion British pounds, which was around **** percent higher than before the pandemic. Meanwhile, travel and tourism's total contribution to employment in the UK is significant, with *** million jobs supported by the industry in 2024, which was slightly lower than in 2019.

With a Gross Domestic Product of over 4.3 trillion Euros, the German economy was by far the largest in Europe in 2024. The similarly sized economies of the United Kingdom and France were the second and third largest economies in Europe during this year, followed by Italy and Spain. The smallest economy in this statistic is that of the small Balkan nation of Montenegro, which had a GDP of 7.4 billion Euros. In this year, the combined GDP of the 27 member states that compose the European Union amounted to approximately 17.95 trillion Euros. The big five Germany’s economy has consistently had the largest economy in Europe since 1980, even before the reunification of West and East Germany. The United Kingdom, by contrast, has had mixed fortunes during the same period and had a smaller economy than Italy in the late 1980s. The UK also suffered more than the other major economies during the recession of the late 2000s, meaning the French economy was the second largest on the continent for some time afterward. The Spanish economy was continually the fifth-largest in Europe in this 38-year period, and from 2004 onwards, has been worth more than one trillion Euros. The smallest GDP, the highest economic growth in Europe Despite having the smallerst GDP of Europe, Montenegro emerged as the fastest growing economy in the continent, achieving an impressive annual growth rate of 4.5 percent, surpassing Turkey's growth rate of 4 percent. Overall,this Balkan nation has shown a remarkable economic recovery since the 2010 financial crisis, with its GDP projected to grow by 28.71 percent between 2024 and 2029. Contributing to this positive trend are successful tourism seasons in recent years, along with increased private consumption and rising imports. Europe's economic stagnation Malta, Albania, Iceland, and Croatia were among the countries reporting some of the highest growth rates this year. However, Europe's overall performance reflected a general slowdown in growth compared to the trend seen in 2021, during the post-pandemic recovery. Estonia experienced the sharpest negative growth in 2023, with its economy shrinking by 2.3% compared to 2022, primarily due to the negative impact of sanctions placed on its large neighbor, Russia. Other nations, including Sweden, Germany, and Finland, also recorded slight negative growth.

In 2024, international tourism spending in Italy exceeded ** billion euros. This figure was forecast to grow significantly in 2025, reaching an estimated **** billion euros. From inbound to domestic tourist spending in Italy The contribution of travel and tourism to the Italian GDP largely depends on domestic expenditure, which accounted for nearly ** percent of total tourism spending in 2023. As the international expenditure exceeded pre-pandemic levels in 2023, domestic tourism spending in Italy followed the same trend, increasing by almost ***** billion euros from 2019. What are the leading inbound and outbound tourism markets in Italy? When breaking down the international tourism expenditure in Italy by country of origin, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom were the leading inbound tourism markets for the country in 2023. Overall, German travelers reported the highest figure, spending over ***** billion euros in Italy. Meanwhile, Spain and the United States were the countries recording the highest expenditure by Italian outbound tourists that year.

In 2024, Germany was the leading inbound travel market in Greece based on the number of arrivals. That year, the number of arrivals by German travelers totaled *** million. The United Kingdom and Italy followed in the ranking in 2024, with around *** million and *** million arrivals, respectively. How many inbound tourists visit Greece? The number of inbound travelers in Greece grew by roughly ** percent in 2024 over the previous year, peaking at over ** million. As the number of international travelers reached the highest figure recorded by the country to date, the value of international travel receipts in Greece followed the same trend, exceeding ** billion euros in 2024. The importance of travel and tourism for the Greek's economy In 2023, travel and tourism represented almost ** percent of Greece's gross domestic product (GDP). That was the third-highest share of travel and tourism's total contribution to GDP among EU countries. When considering the total contribution of travel and tourism to employment in Greece, those markets supported, directly and indirectly, around ******* jobs that year.