Zimbabwe: International tourism, expenditures (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, Zimbabwe's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) fell 38.9% on 2019 (from US$257 million to US$157 million).

Across the 13 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was +7.2% and a typical year strayed about 22.1% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.1 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 56.2% in 2011 and the biggest yearly fall was 38.9% 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 the straight-line trend is downward, about US$22.44 million a year. A straight line explains 35% 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

In 2020, Zimbabwe had the 100th 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 Zimbabwe in the 2020 ranking

• Bahamas, The — 97th of 129: US$166 million
• Bosnia and Herzegovina — 98th of 129: US$163 million
• El Salvador — 99th of 129: US$162 million
• North Macedonia — 101st of 129: US$153 million
• Curaçao — 102nd of 129: US$127 million
• Rwanda — 103rd of 129: US$127 million

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

• Angola — US$691 million (2020)
• Benin — US$130 million (2019)
• Botswana — US$91.8 million (2020)
• Burkina Faso — US$185.2 million (2019)
• Cabo Verde — US$59 million (2020)
• Cameroon — US$697 million (2020)
• Comoros — US$43 million (2020)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — US$115 million (2018)
• Congo, Rep. — US$457 million (2016)
• Côte d'Ivoire

More private sector & trade data for Zimbabwe

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 38.7% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$10.11 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$9.71 billion (2025)
• Import unit value index (2015 = 100) — 139.8 (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 8.71% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies outside region (% of total merchandise imports) — 27.05% (2023)
• Merchandise imports from low- and middle-income economies in Sub-Saharan Africa (% of total merchandise imports) — 64.24% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports)

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 Zimbabwe's international tourism, expenditures (current US$)?

US$157 million in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is up 48.11% from US$106 million in 1995 (1.58% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$557 million in 2015 and the lowest US$106 million in 1995.

How does Zimbabwe rank?

100th highest of 129 economies with data for 2020.

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

In 2020, Zimbabwe's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) fell 38.9% on 2019 (from US$257 million to US$157 million). Across the 13 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2019), the average change was +7.2% and a typical year strayed about 22.1% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.1 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.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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