European Union: International tourism, number of departures

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2019, European Union's international tourism, number of departures rose 1.5% on 2018 (from 461.91 million to 468.66 million).

Across the 21 yearly changes before that (1998 to 2018), the average change was +2.6% and a typical year strayed about 3.7% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 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 9.2% in 1998 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.9% in 2009. 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 12.33 million a year. A straight line explains 79% 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

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 23 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 European Union

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 70.94% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$7.41 trillion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$7.66 trillion (2025)
• Agricultural raw materials imports (% of merchandise imports) — 1.16% (2025)
• Food imports (% of merchandise imports) — 11.34% (2025)
• Fuel imports (% of merchandise imports) — 9.85% (2025)
• Manufactures imports (% of merchandise imports) — 71.51% (2025)
• Ores and metals imports (% of merchandise imports) — 3.64% (2025)
• Merchandise imports from economies in the Arab World (% of total merchandise imports)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is European Union's international tourism, number of departures?

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

How has it changed since 1997?

It is up 72.63% from 271.48 million in 1997 (2.51% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 468.66 million in 2019 and the lowest 271.48 million in 1997.

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

In 2019, European Union's international tourism, number of departures rose 1.5% on 2018 (from 461.91 million to 468.66 million). Across the 21 yearly changes before that (1998 to 2018), the average change was +2.6% and a typical year strayed about 3.7% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Where does this data come from?

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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