Aruba: International tourism, receipts (% of total exports)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, Aruba's international tourism, receipts (% of total exports) fell 7.74 percentage points on 2019 (from 82.33% to 74.59%).

Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was +2.27 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 17.49 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 33.68 percentage points in 2010 and the biggest yearly fall was 48.93 percentage points in 2011. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 the straight-line trend is upward, about 5.1 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 62% 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 2020, Aruba had the 3rd highest value of the 120 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 Aruba in the 2020 ranking

• Maldives — 1st of 120: 78.87%
• Macao SAR, China — 3rd of 120: 60.57%
• Bahamas, The — 4th of 120: 59.64%
• Vanuatu — 5th of 120: 50.4%

What this measures

International tourism receipts are expenditures by international inbound visitors, including payments to national carriers for international transport. These receipts include any other prepayment made for goods or services received in the destination country. They also may include receipts from same-day visitors, except when these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include receipts for passenger transport items. Their share in exports is calculated as a ratio to exports of goods and services, which comprise all transactions between residents of a country and the rest of the world involving a change of ownership from residents to nonresidents of general merchandise, goods sent for processing and repairs, nonmonetary gold, and services.

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. Thus a person who makes several trips to a country during a given period is counted each time as a new arrival. The data on inbound tourism show the arrivals of nonresident tourists (overnight visitors) at national borders.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 26 values

International tourism, receipts (% of total exports) in nearby economies

• Argentina — 2.64% (2020)
• Bahamas, The — 59.64% (2020)
• Barbados — 44.44% (2016)
• Bolivia — 3.27% (2020)
• Brazil — 1.3% (2020)
• Chile — 1.3% (2020)
• Colombia — 5.13% (2020)
• Costa Rica — 7.4% (2020)
• Curaçao — 27.8% (2020)
• Dominica

More private sector & trade data for Aruba

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$1.6 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$216 million (2025)
• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 39.66% (2024)
• Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service imports) — 6.39% (2023)
• Computer, communications and other services (% of commercial service imports) — 40.13% (2023)
• Commercial service imports (current US$) — US$1.14 billion (2023)
• Transport services (% of commercial service imports) — 14.77% (2023)
• Travel services (% of commercial service imports) — 38.7% (2023)
• Insurance and financial services (% of commercial service exports)

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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Questions people ask

What is Aruba's international tourism, receipts (% of total exports)?

74.59% in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is up 46.78 percentage points from 27.81% in 1995. The highest value was 82.33% in 2019 and the lowest 17.66% in 2006.

How does Aruba rank?

3rd highest of 120 economies with data for 2020.

Is the latest change in international tourism, receipts (% of total exports) unusual for Aruba?

In 2020, Aruba's international tourism, receipts (% of total exports) fell 7.74 percentage points on 2019 (from 82.33% to 74.59%). Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was +2.27 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 17.49 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator ST.INT.RCPT.XP.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism; IMF exports estimates, International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Bank exports estimates, World Bank (WB) 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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