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 2023, 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 **** trillion U.S. dollars, exceeding pre-pandemic levels. China and Germany followed in the ranking in 2023, with travel and tourism's total contributions to GDP of around *** trillion and *** billion U.S. dollars, respectively. Overall, the total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP worldwide reached almost ** trillion U.S. dollars in 2023. 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 2023, it was a European destination that led the ranking of countries with the highest number of inbound tourist arrivals worldwide. With *** million international arrivals in 2023, France was the most visited travel destination in the world that year, ahead of Spain, the United States, and Italy. 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 2023, reaching around *** million, nearly catching up with pre-pandemic levels. That year, China and India were the countries with the highest travel and tourism employment worldwide.

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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 1.3 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.

In 2024, the total contribution of travel and tourism to the global gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to **** 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 *** percent over 2019. As forecast, the total contribution of the travel and tourism sector to the global GDP was expected to reach **** 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.

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

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.

Egypt GDP: Tourism data was reported at 154,838.750 EGP mn in Dec 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 122,412.282 EGP mn for Sep 2024. Egypt GDP: Tourism data is updated quarterly, averaging 11,545.650 EGP mn from Sep 2001 (Median) to Dec 2024, with 94 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 171,570.883 EGP mn in Jun 2024 and a record low of 1,527.000 EGP mn in Jun 2002. Egypt GDP: Tourism data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Ministry of Planning, Economic Development and International Cooperation. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Egypt – Table EG.A014: GDP: by Industry: Current Price.

The tourism sector GDP share in South Korea was forecast to continuously increase between 2023 and 2028 by in total 0.6 percentage points. The share is estimated to amount to 2.71 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 150 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).Find more key insights for the tourism sector GDP share in countries like Japan and China.

Tourism Revenues in Greece increased to 1084.33 EUR Million in April from 473.41 EUR Million in March of 2025. This dataset provides - Greece Tourism Receipts- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The average for 2020 based on 27 countries was 2.09 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.

The tourism sector GDP share in Hungary was forecast to continuously increase between 2023 and 2028 by in total 2.4 percentage points. The share is estimated to amount to 8.71 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 150 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).Find more key insights for the tourism sector GDP share in countries like Czechia and Slovakia.

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 tourism sector GDP share in Turkey was forecast to continuously increase between 2023 and 2028 by in total 3.9 percentage points. The share is estimated to amount to 12.65 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 150 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).Find more key insights for the tourism sector GDP share in countries like Romania and Croatia.

In 2024, the share of travel and tourism's total contribution to global gross domestic product (GDP) showed a decline of *** percentage points compared to 2019. Overall, the travel and tourism market represented ** percent of the global GDP in 2024. That year, the total contribution of travel and tourism to the global GDP amounted to almost ** trillion U.S. dollars. What is the contribution of travel and tourism to employment? In 2024, the total number of travel and tourism jobs worldwide exceeded pre-pandemic levels, with global travel and tourism employment surpassing *** million. This figure, which refers to jobs generated directly and indirectly by the travel and tourism sector, was forecast to grow further in 2025. How many people travel every year? After sinking in 2020 to the lowest point recorded since 1989, the number of international tourist arrivals worldwide caught up with pre-pandemic levels in 2024, reaching almost *** billion. Both before and after the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Europe was the global region with the highest number of international tourist arrivals.