Jamaica's international tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$) was US$131 million in 2020, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 32.12% from US$193 million in 2010 (3.8% a year on average, compounded).
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | US$131 million | 2020 |
| Five years earlier | US$235 million | 2015 |
| Ten years earlier | US$193 million | 2010 |
| Highest | US$298 million | 2007 |
| Lowest | US$131 million | 2020 |
| Average since 2011 | US$218.2 million | 2011–2020 |
| First recorded | US$148 million |
What the numbers say
In 2020, Jamaica's international tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$) fell 53.9% on 2019 (from US$284 million to US$131 million).
Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was +3.4% and a typical year strayed about 12% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 4.8 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 25.2% in 2002 and the biggest yearly fall was 53.9% 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 16% 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, Jamaica had the 106th highest value of the 155 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.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Jamaica | US$131 million | 2020 |
| World | US$1.4 trillion | 2019 |
| Latin America & Caribbean | US$59.78 billion | 2019 |
| Upper middle income | US$417.2 billion | 2019 |
Closest to Jamaica in the 2020 ranking
- North Macedonia — 103rd of 155: US$147 million
- El Salvador — 104th of 155: US$142 million
- Zimbabwe — 105th of 155: US$135 million
- Malta — 107th of 155: US$127 million
- Bosnia and Herzegovina — 108th of 155: US$112 million
- Bahamas, The — 109th of 155: US$110 million
What this measures
International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries. The goods and services are purchased by, or on behalf of, the traveler or provided, without a quid pro quo, for the traveler to use or give away. These may include expenditures by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are so important as to justify a separate classification. Excluded is the international carriage of travelers, which is covered in passenger travel items. Data are in current U.S. dollars.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a gap-filled total.
All 26 values
| Year | International tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$) |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 131,000,000 |
| 2019 | 284,000,000 |
| 2018 | 286,000,000 |
| 2017 | 271,000,000 |
| 2016 | 256,000,000 |
| 2015 | 235,000,000 |
| 2014 | 198,000,000 |
| 2013 | 178,000,000 |
| 2012 | 184,000,000 |
| 2011 | 159,000,000 |
International tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$) in nearby economies
- Antigua and Barbuda — US$27 million (2020)
- Argentina — US$2.35 billion (2020)
- Aruba — US$306 million (2020)
- Bahamas, The — US$110 million (2020)
- Barbados — US$53 million (2016)
- Belize — US$20.55 million (2020)
- Bolivia — US$274 million (2020)
- Brazil — US$5.39 billion (2020)
- Chile
More private sector & trade data for Jamaica
- Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 41.28% (2025)
- Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$7.68 billion (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$1.69 billion (2025)
- Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 67.05% (2023)
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 16.3% (2023)
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Latin America & the Caribbean (% of total merchandise imports) — 16.64% (2023)
- Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in South Asia (% of total merchandise imports) — 1.43% (2023)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Jamaica's international tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$)?
- US$131 million in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1995?
- It is down 11.49% from US$148 million in 1995 (0.49% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$298 million in 2007 and the lowest US$131 million in 2020.
- How does Jamaica rank?
- 106th highest of 155 economies with data for 2020.
- Is the latest change in international tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$) unusual for Jamaica?
- In 2020, Jamaica's international tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$) fell 53.9% on 2019 (from US$284 million to US$131 million). Across the 24 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was +3.4% and a typical year strayed about 12% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 4.8 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.TVLX.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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