Saudi Arabia: International tourism, expenditures (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, Saudi Arabia's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) fell 44.8% on 2019 (from US$16.42 billion to US$9.07 billion).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2019), the average change was −3.8% and a typical year strayed about 21.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.9 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 34.8% in 2014 and the biggest yearly fall was 44.8% 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 30% 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, Saudi Arabia had the 11th highest value of the 129 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 Saudi Arabia in the 2020 ranking

• Qatar — 8th of 129: US$11.5 billion
• Russian Federation — 9th of 129: US$10.8 billion
• Switzerland — 10th of 129: US$10.37 billion
• Australia — 12th of 129: US$7.65 billion
• Netherlands — 13th of 129: US$7.44 billion
• Japan — 14th of 129: US$6.74 billion

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 16 values

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

• Afghanistan — US$49 million (2020)
• Algeria — US$272 million (2020)
• Bahrain — US$2.64 billion (2019)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — US$2.58 billion (2020)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — US$9.27 billion (2018)
• Iraq — US$4.17 billion (2020)
• Israel — US$2.18 billion (2020)
• Jordan — US$408 million (2020)
• Kuwait — US$6.7 billion (2020)
• Lebanon

More private sector & trade data for Saudi Arabia

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 44.23% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$254.06 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$310.67 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from economies in the Arab World (% of total merchandise imports) — 14.54% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 56.97% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 39.1% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in East Asia & Pacific (% of total merchandise imports) — 26.57% (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 Saudi Arabia's international tourism, expenditures (current US$)?

US$9.07 billion in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2002?

It is up 23.05% from US$7.37 billion in 2002 (1.16% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$25.14 billion in 2014 and the lowest US$4.17 billion in 2003.

How does Saudi Arabia rank?

11th highest of 129 economies with data for 2020.

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

In 2020, Saudi Arabia's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) fell 44.8% on 2019 (from US$16.42 billion to US$9.07 billion). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2019), the average change was −3.8% and a typical year strayed about 21.6% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.9 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.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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