Travel services in European Union
European Union: Travel services was 18.7% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Travel services in European Union, 1975–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of service imports, BoP.
Analysis
The most recent figure for travel services in European Union is 18.7%, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of up 23.7% on the previous year and up 13.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, travel services in European Union peaked at 31.6% in 1988 and was at its lowest, 7.9%, in 2020.
European Union ranks 32nd of 47 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 43 years of available data.
Travel services in European Union, year by year
| Year | % of service imports, BoP | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 28.5% | — |
| 1976 | 26.5% | -7.2% |
| 1977 | 27.6% | +4.1% |
| 1978 | 28.2% | +2.3% |
| 1979 | 28.2% | -0.1% |
| 1980 | 28.3% | +0.4% |
| 1981 | 25.7% | -9.3% |
| 1982 | 25.7% | +0.2% |
| 1983 | 25.6% | -0.4% |
| 1984 | 25.5% | -0.3% |
| 1985 | 26.2% | +2.6% |
| 1986 | 29.7% | +13.3% |
| 1987 | 31.2% | +5.2% |
| 1988 | 31.6% | +1.2% |
| 1989 | 30.7% | -3.0% |
| 1990 | 31.0% | +1.1% |
| 1999 | 30.5% | -1.5% |
| 2000 | 29.5% | -3.5% |
| 2001 | 28.1% | -4.7% |
| 2002 | 27.8% | -1.0% |
| 2003 | 28.1% | +0.9% |
| 2004 | 25.6% | -8.8% |
| 2005 | 24.0% | -6.3% |
| 2006 | 22.6% | -5.6% |
| 2007 | 22.1% | -2.5% |
| 2008 | 21.7% | -1.7% |
| 2009 | 22.2% | +2.2% |
| 2010 | 20.9% | -5.8% |
| 2011 | 20.6% | -1.3% |
| 2012 | 19.8% | -4.0% |
| 2013 | 19.4% | -2.0% |
| 2014 | 18.9% | -2.5% |
| 2015 | 16.4% | -13.0% |
| 2016 | 16.6% | +0.7% |
| 2017 | 16.9% | +2.3% |
| 2018 | 17.0% | +0.1% |
| 2019 | 15.9% | -6.2% |
| 2020 | 7.9% | -50.2% |
| 2021 | 9.0% | +13.8% |
| 2022 | 12.8% | +41.9% |
| 2023 | 14.8% | +15.5% |
| 2024 | 15.1% | +2.2% |
| 2025 | 18.7% | +23.7% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Travel services in European Union 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | -50.2% | 15.9% | 7.9% |
| 2022 | +41.9% | 9.0% | 12.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 27.8% | 26.5% | 28.5% | 5 |
| 1980s | 28.0% | 25.5% | 31.6% | 10 |
| 1990s | 30.8% | 30.5% | 31.0% | 2 |
| 2000s | 25.2% | 21.7% | 29.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 18.2% | 15.9% | 20.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 13.0% | 7.9% | 18.7% | 6 |
Countries ranked near European Union
- 29 Central African Republic 38.0% compare
- 30 Andorra 37.8% compare
- 31 Macau, China 37.8% compare
- 32 Bosnia and Herzegovina 37.6% compare
- 33 Aruba 37.5% compare
- 34 Rwanda 36.7% compare
- 35 Brunei Darussalam 36.4% compare
More economy & growth data for European Union
- Gross national expenditure (constant 2015 US$), annual growth rate 2.12 % change on previous year (2025)
- Exports of goods and services (current US$), per capita 23,360 current US$ per person (2025)
- Exports of goods and services (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.4961 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Exports of goods and services (current US$), annual growth rate 7.29 % change on previous year (2025)
- Gross national expenditure (constant 2015 US$), per capita 33,955 constant 2015 US$ per person (2025)
- Gross national expenditure (constant 2015 US$), per unit of GDP 0.7211 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Gross national expenditure (current US$), annual growth rate 9.47 % change on previous year (2025)
- Final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$), per unit of GDP 0.5591 constant 2015 US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$), per capita 26,328 constant 2015 US$ per person (2025)
- Exports of goods and services (constant 2015 US$), annual growth rate 2.34 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is travel services in European Union?
- Travel services in European Union was 18.7% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest travel services recorded in European Union?
- The highest recorded value was 31.6% in 1988.
- What is the lowest travel services recorded in European Union?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.9% in 2020.
- How does European Union rank for travel services?
- European Union ranks 32nd out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
- Is travel services rising or falling in European Union?
- Over the last ten years it is up 13.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this European Union 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 imports, BoP). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 43 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 imports which are services provided by non-residents to residents.