Guatemala: International tourism, number of departures

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, Guatemala's international tourism, number of departures fell 70.2% on 2019 (from 1.7 million to 507,800).

Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was +8.3% and a typical year strayed about 14.5% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 5.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 29.8% in 2004 and the biggest yearly fall was 70.2% in 2020. 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 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 21% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

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

How it compares

In 2020, Guatemala had the 49th highest value of the 70 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 Guatemala in the 2020 ranking

• Estonia — 45th of 70: 558,000
• El Salvador — 46th of 70: 515,000
• New Zealand — 47th of 70: 511,000
• Eswatini — 49th of 70: 488,000
• Bolivia — 50th of 70: 432,000
• Jordan — 51st of 70: 406,000

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 26 values

International tourism, number of departures in nearby economies

• Argentina — 15.35 million (2019)
• 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)

More private sector & trade data for Guatemala

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 40.69% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$34.61 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$15.56 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 51.88% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 18.78% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports) — 16.2% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Latin America & the Caribbean (% of total merchandise imports) — 29.16% (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 Guatemala's international tourism, number of departures?

507,800 in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is up 52.49% from 333,000 in 1995 (1.7% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 1.7 million in 2019 and the lowest 331,000 in 1997.

How does Guatemala rank?

49th highest of 70 economies with data for 2020.

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

In 2020, Guatemala's international tourism, number of departures fell 70.2% on 2019 (from 1.7 million to 507,800). Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was +8.3% and a typical year strayed about 14.5% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 5.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

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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