Argentina: International tourism, number of departures

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2019, Argentina's international tourism, number of departures fell 16.6% on 2018 (from 18.41 million to 15.35 million).

Across the 14 yearly changes before that (2005 to 2018), the average change was +11.5% and a typical year strayed about 14.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 41.7% in 2016 and the biggest yearly fall was 16.6% in 2019. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2010 to 2019 the straight-line trend is upward, about 1.54 million a year. A straight line explains 76% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2019, Argentina had the 8th highest value of the 21 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Argentina in the 2019 ranking

• India — 5th of 21: 26.92 million
• Netherlands — 6th of 21: 22.05 million
• Switzerland — 7th of 21: 19.8 million
• Thailand — 9th of 21: 10.45 million
• Israel — 10th of 21: 9.18 million
• Uzbekistan — 11th of 21: 8.44 million

What this measures

International outbound tourists are the number of departures that people make from their country of usual residence to any other country for any purpose other than a remunerated activity in the country visited. The data on outbound tourists refer to the number of departures, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips from a country during a given period is counted each time as a new departure.

Limitations: Tourism can be either domestic or international. The data refers to international tourism, where the traveler's country of residence differs from the visiting country. International tourism consists of inbound (arrival) and outbound (departures) tourism. The data are from the World Tourism Organization (WTO), a United Nations agency. The data on inbound and outbound tourists refer to the number of arrivals and departures, not to the number of people traveling.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a gap-filled total.

All 16 values

International tourism, number of departures in nearby economies

• Bolivia — 432,000 (2020)
• Brazil — 10.63 million (2018)
• Chile — 4.09 million (2019)
• Colombia — 1.28 million (2020)
• Costa Rica — 324,000 (2020)
• Cuba — 271,000 (2020)
• Dominican Republic — 210,000 (2020)
• Ecuador — 1.52 million (2019)
• El Salvador — 515,000 (2020)
• Guatemala — 507,800 (2020)

More private sector & trade data for Argentina

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 23.85% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$75.79 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$87.11 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 35.96% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 29.67% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports) — 25.37% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Latin America & the Caribbean (% of total merchandise imports) — 34.37% (2023)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Argentina's international tourism, number of departures?

15.35 million in 2019, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2004?

It is up 246.08% from 4.44 million in 2004 (8.63% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 21.58 million in 2017 and the lowest 4.44 million in 2004.

How does Argentina rank?

8th highest of 21 economies with data for 2019.

Is the latest change in international tourism, number of departures unusual for Argentina?

In 2019, Argentina's international tourism, number of departures fell 16.6% on 2018 (from 18.41 million to 15.35 million). Across the 14 yearly changes before that (2005 to 2018), the average change was +11.5% and a typical year strayed about 14.3% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator ST.INT.DPRT, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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