Mauritania: International tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$)

Key figures

Over five years it is down 58.14% from US$43 million in 2015 (15.98% a year on average, compounded). Since 1995 it is down 21.74% from US$23 million in 1995 (0.98% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 12 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2020, Mauritania's international tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$) fell 41.9% on 2019 (from US$31 million to US$18 million).

Across the 11 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was +12% and a typical year strayed about 52.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 138.5% in 2019 and the biggest yearly fall was 55.2% in 2018. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2012 to 2020 the straight-line trend is downward, about US$5.95 million a year. A straight line explains 82% 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

In 2020, Mauritania had the 142nd 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.

Closest to Mauritania in the 2020 ranking

• Belize — 139th of 155: US$20.55 million
• Sint Maarten (Dutch part) — 140th of 155: US$19 million
• St. Lucia — 141st of 155: US$19 million
• Vanuatu — 143rd of 155: US$18 million
• Djibouti — 144th of 155: US$14.9 million
• St. Kitts and Nevis — 145th of 155: US$13 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 14 values

International tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$) in nearby economies

• Angola — US$615 million (2020)
• Benin — US$94 million (2019)
• Botswana — US$89 million (2020)
• Burkina Faso — US$114.6 million (2019)
• Burundi — US$23 million (2018)
• Cabo Verde — US$52 million (2020)
• Cameroon — US$553 million (2020)
• Comoros — US$31 million (2020)
• Congo, Dem. Rep.

More private sector & trade data for Mauritania

• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$5.69 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$4.51 billion (2025)
• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 87.29% (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 65.27% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$4.82 billion (2023)
• Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) — 60.7% (2023)
• Merchandise exports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise exports)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Mauritania's international tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$)?

US$18 million in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is down 21.74% from US$23 million in 1995 (0.98% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$62 million in 2014 and the lowest US$13 million in 2018.

How does Mauritania rank?

142nd highest of 155 economies with data for 2020.

Is the latest change in international tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$) unusual for Mauritania?

In 2020, Mauritania's international tourism, expenditures for travel items (current US$) fell 41.9% on 2019 (from US$31 million to US$18 million). Across the 11 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was +12% and a typical year strayed about 52.8% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

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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