Palau: International tourism, expenditures (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2017, Palau's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) fell 2.1% on 2016 (from US$23.8 million to US$23.3 million).

Across the 16 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2016), the average change was +5.5% and a typical year strayed about 13.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 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 29.1% in 2002 and the biggest yearly fall was 15.7% 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 2017 the straight-line trend is upward, about US$756,970 a year. A straight line explains 59% 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 tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries, including payments to foreign carriers for international transport. These expenditures may include those by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include expenditures 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. Expenditure associated with the activity of international visitors has been traditionally identified with the travel item of the Balance of Payments (BOP).

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a gap-filled total.

All 18 values

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

• Australia — US$7.65 billion (2020)
• Brunei Darussalam — US$585 million (2018)
• Cambodia — US$213 million (2020)
• Fiji — US$77 million (2020)
• French Polynesia — US$226 million (2016)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — US$26.5 billion (2018)
• Indonesia — US$1.98 billion (2020)
• Japan — US$6.74 billion (2020)
• Korea, Rep. — US$16.71 billion (2020)
• Lao PDR

More private sector & trade data for Palau

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 47.83% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$162 million (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$3 million (2025)
• International tourism, number of arrivals — 18,400 (2020)
• Import unit value index (2015 = 100) — 125.2 (2025)
• Export unit value index (2015 = 100) — 121.7 (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 84.82% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 0.78% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Palau's international tourism, expenditures (current US$)?

US$23.3 million in 2017, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2000?

It is up 102.61% from US$11.5 million in 2000 (4.24% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$23.8 million in 2016 and the lowest US$11.5 million in 2000.

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

In 2017, Palau's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) fell 2.1% on 2016 (from US$23.8 million to US$23.3 million). Across the 16 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2016), the average change was +5.5% and a typical year strayed about 13.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.6 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.XPND.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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