Travel services in North America
North America: Travel services was 18.8% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Travel services in North America, 1970–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of service exports, BoP.
Analysis
In 2025, travel services in North America stood at 18.8%.
That represents a change of down 6.1% on the previous year and down 24.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, travel services in North America peaked at 35.9% in 1993 and was at its lowest, 9.3%, in 2021.
North America ranks 36th of 45 groups on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 56 years of available data.
Travel services in North America, year by year
| Year | % of service exports, BoP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 24.8% | — |
| 1971 | 24.1% | -2.9% |
| 1972 | 25.1% | +4.0% |
| 1973 | 23.9% | -4.7% |
| 1974 | 22.8% | -4.8% |
| 1975 | 23.1% | +1.6% |
| 1976 | 23.3% | +0.8% |
| 1977 | 22.1% | -5.2% |
| 1978 | 22.2% | +0.6% |
| 1979 | 23.5% | +5.8% |
| 1980 | 23.9% | +1.5% |
| 1981 | 27.1% | +13.3% |
| 1982 | 24.4% | -9.9% |
| 1983 | 22.7% | -6.8% |
| 1984 | 28.9% | +27.0% |
| 1985 | 29.2% | +1.2% |
| 1986 | 30.3% | +3.7% |
| 1987 | 29.8% | -1.6% |
| 1988 | 31.5% | +5.9% |
| 1989 | 33.1% | +5.0% |
| 1990 | 34.0% | +2.7% |
| 1991 | 34.4% | +1.0% |
| 1992 | 35.7% | +3.8% |
| 1993 | 35.9% | +0.7% |
| 1994 | 34.2% | -4.9% |
| 1995 | 33.9% | -0.9% |
| 1996 | 33.7% | -0.4% |
| 1997 | 33.1% | -1.7% |
| 1998 | 31.9% | -3.7% |
| 1999 | 31.7% | -0.7% |
| 2000 | 31.8% | +0.4% |
| 2001 | 30.0% | -5.6% |
| 2002 | 27.5% | -8.6% |
| 2003 | 25.5% | -7.0% |
| 2004 | 24.8% | -2.8% |
| 2005 | 24.4% | -1.6% |
| 2006 | 22.6% | -7.2% |
| 2007 | 21.7% | -4.4% |
| 2008 | 21.6% | -0.5% |
| 2009 | 21.1% | -2.3% |
| 2010 | 22.2% | +5.4% |
| 2011 | 21.8% | -1.7% |
| 2012 | 22.4% | +2.8% |
| 2013 | 23.6% | +5.3% |
| 2014 | 23.8% | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 24.9% | +4.9% |
| 2016 | 24.8% | -0.7% |
| 2017 | 23.8% | -3.9% |
| 2018 | 23.5% | -1.4% |
| 2019 | 22.6% | -3.7% |
| 2020 | 10.3% | -54.3% |
| 2021 | 9.3% | -10.0% |
| 2022 | 15.9% | +71.4% |
| 2023 | 19.5% | +22.3% |
| 2024 | 20.1% | +3.1% |
| 2025 | 18.8% | -6.1% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Travel services in North America changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | +71.4% | 9.3% | 15.9% |
| 2020 | -54.3% | 22.6% | 10.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 23.5% | 22.1% | 25.1% | 10 |
| 1980s | 28.1% | 22.7% | 33.1% | 10 |
| 1990s | 33.9% | 31.7% | 35.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 25.1% | 21.1% | 31.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 23.3% | 21.8% | 24.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 15.6% | 9.3% | 20.1% | 6 |
Countries ranked near North America
More economy & growth data for North America
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$), per capita 1,224 BoP, current US$ per person (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$), gaps 479.40 billion BoP, current US$ (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$), per unit 0.0145 BoP, current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net outflows (BoP, current US$), per capita 1,250 BoP, current US$ per person (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$), gaps filled 469.55 billion BoP, current US$ (2025)
- General government final consumption expenditure (current US$) 6.1 % change on previous year (2024)
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$), per unit 0.0142 BoP, current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Foreign direct investment, net inflows (BoP, current US$), annual 30.35 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) 24.38 trillion current US$ (2021)
- Gross fixed capital formation (constant 2015 US$), per unit of GDP 0.1716 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is travel services in North America?
- Travel services in North America was 18.8% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest travel services recorded in North America?
- The highest recorded value was 35.9% in 1993.
- What is the lowest travel services recorded in North America?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.3% in 2021.
- How does North America rank for travel services?
- North America ranks 36th out of 45 groups with data for 2025.
- Is travel services rising or falling in North America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 24.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this North America data come from?
- The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Travel services (% of service exports, BoP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 56 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Travel services cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by nonresidents during visits to that economy, or acquired from other economies by residents during visits to these other economies. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service exports which are services provided by residents to non-residents.