Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income): International tourism, number of departures

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2019, Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)'s international tourism, number of departures rose 5.2% on 2018 (from 165.72 million to 174.31 million).

Across the 14 yearly changes before that (2005 to 2018), the average change was +5.9% and a typical year strayed about 6.7% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 15.3% in 2017 and the biggest yearly fall was 6.8% in 2014. 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 5.63 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.

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 184.08 million for 2022. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2017 to 2019 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 11.25 million, against 31.39 million for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

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

• Algeria — 1.39 million (2020)
• Israel — 9.18 million (2019)
• Jordan — 406,000 (2020)
• Malta — 218,000 (2020)
• Morocco — 646,000 (2020)
• Oman — 1.66 million (2020)
• Saudi Arabia — 27.2 million (2019)
• Tunisia — 739,000 (2020)

More private sector & trade data for Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)

• Merchandise imports from economies in the Arab World (% of total merchandise imports) — 4.33% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 64.9% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 25.82% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Latin America & the Caribbean (% of total merchandise imports) — 1.79% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Middle East & North Africa (% of total merchandise imports) — 2.27% (2023)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income)'s international tourism, number of departures?

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

How has it changed since 2004?

It is up 127.14% from 76.74 million in 2004 (5.62% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 174.31 million in 2019 and the lowest 76.74 million in 2004.

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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