French Polynesia: International tourism, receipts (current US$)

Key figures

Over five years it is up 7.86% from US$725 million in 2011 (1.53% a year on average, compounded). Since 1995 it is up 139.88% from US$326 million in 1995 (4.25% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 4 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2016, French Polynesia's international tourism, receipts (current US$) rose 3.2% on 2015 (from US$758 million to US$782 million).

Across the 14 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2015), the average change was +5.8% and a typical year strayed about 12.7% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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 38.2% in 2003 and the biggest yearly fall was 16.1% 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 2008 to 2016 the straight-line trend is upward, about US$17.18 million a year. A straight line explains 47% of the movement over 9 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.

Closest to French Polynesia in the 2016 ranking

• Barbados — 1st of 5: US$1.07 billion
• Venezuela, RB — 3rd of 5: US$546 million
• Eritrea — 4th of 5: US$48 million
• Congo, Rep. — 5th of 5: US$42.9 million

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. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

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 gap-filled total.

All 18 values

International tourism, receipts (current US$) in nearby economies

• Australia — US$26.23 billion (2020)
• Brunei Darussalam — US$190 million (2018)
• Cambodia — US$1.12 billion (2020)
• Fiji — US$236 million (2020)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — US$32.7 billion (2019)
• Indonesia — US$3.53 billion (2020)
• Japan — US$11.4 billion (2020)
• Korea, Rep. — US$11.78 billion (2020)
• Lao PDR — US$227 million (2020)
• Macao SAR, China — US$9.44 billion (2020)
• Malaysia — US$3.39 billion (2020)
• Marshall Islands — US$20.1 million (2018)
• Mongolia — US$49 million (2020)
• Myanmar — US$2.5 billion (2019)
• Naoero — US$1.6 million (2018)

More private sector & trade data for French Polynesia

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$2.45 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$175 million (2025)
• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 38.74% (2024)
• Agricultural raw materials imports (% of merchandise imports) — 0.8% (2025)
• Food imports (% of merchandise imports) — 17.61% (2025)
• Fuel imports (% of merchandise imports) — 0.46% (2025)
• Manufactures imports (% of merchandise imports) — 40.39% (2025)
• Ores and metals imports (% of merchandise imports) — 0.48% (2025)
• Agricultural raw materials exports (% of merchandise exports) — 0.46% (2025)
• Food exports (% of merchandise exports) — 7.42% (2025)
• Manufactures exports (% of merchandise exports) — 34.12% (2025)
• Ores and metals exports (% of merchandise exports) — 0.000692% (2024)
• Fuel exports (% of merchandise exports) — 0.03% (2022)
• Import unit value index (2015 = 100) — 124.1 (2025)
• Export unit value index (2015 = 100) — 95.7 (2025)

Every indicator for French Polynesia is on the French Polynesia data page.

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Questions people ask

What is French Polynesia's international tourism, receipts (current US$)?

US$782 million in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is up 139.88% from US$326 million in 1995 (4.25% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$835 million in 2014 and the lowest US$322 million in 1996.

Is the latest change in international tourism, receipts (current US$) unusual for French Polynesia?

In 2016, French Polynesia's international tourism, receipts (current US$) rose 3.2% on 2015 (from US$758 million to US$782 million). Across the 14 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2015), the average change was +5.8% and a typical year strayed about 12.7% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 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?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator ST.INT.RCPT.CD, 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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