Developments in the balance of travel services: January 2023
24/03/2023 - Press Releases
- The balance of travel services posted a surplus of €26.3 million in January 2023.
- Travel receipts rose by 71.9% in January 2023.
- Inbound traveller flows rose by 86.1% in January 2023.
Balance of travel services
Based on provisional data, the balance of travel services in January 2023 showed a surplus of €26.3 million, down from a surplus of €44.0 million in January 2022. More specifically, in January 2023, travel receipts rose by 71.9% to €224.2 million, up from €130.5 million in January 2022, while travel payments also increased by 129.0% (January 2023: €197.9 million, January 2022: €86.4 million). The rise in travel receipts was due to an 86.1% increase in inbound traveller flows, as average expenditure per trip declined by 7.6%. Net travel receipts offset 1.1% of the goods deficit and contributed 9.8% of total net services receipts.
Travel receipts
In January 2023, as mentioned previously, travel receipts rose by 71.9% year-on-year. In more detail, receipts from residents of EU27 countries increased by 23.7% to €95.1 million, while receipts from outside the EU27 grew by 141.4% (January 2023: €128.9 million, January 2022: €53.4 million). The rise in receipts from within the EU27 is attributed to a 31.3% increase in receipts from residents of euro area countries (January 2023: €80.7 million, January 2022: €61.5 million), as receipts from non-euro area residents decreased by 6.9% to €14.3 million. More specifically, among major euro area countries of origin, receipts from Germany rose by 13.3% to €22.3 million, as did receipts from France, by 168.4% to €12.1 million. Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom rose by 48.3% to €20.2 million, while receipts from the United States increased by 10.4% to €8.1 million. Receipts from Russia decreased by 67.5% to €0.4 million.
Inbound traveller flows
The number of inbound travellers in January 2023 rose by 86.1% year-on-year to 635.5 thousand. Specifically, traveller flows through airports increased by 70.1% compared with January 2022, while traveller flows through road border-crossing points rose by 144.1%. This increase was due to higher traveller flows from both within the EU27 (up by 48.9%) and outside the EU27 (up by 137.2%). In greater detail, travellers from within the euro area rose by 40.6% to 210.2 thousand, while travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries also increased by 75.0% to 84.0 thousand. Specifically, the number of travellers from Germany rose by 19.2% to 64.6 thousand, as did the number of travellers from France, by 98.9% to 31.5 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom increased by 78.2% to 59.5 thousand and from the United States by 40.8% to 15.2 thousand. Finally, the number of travellers from Russia fell by 45.3% to 1.2 thousand.
Note:
Inbound traveller flows exclude cruise passengers other than those recorded in the Border Survey.
Related information:
The next Press Release on “Developments in the balance of travel services” for February 2023 will be published on 21 April 2023, in accordance with the Advance Release Calendar posted on the Bank of Greece website.
Related link:
Detailed and final data on the balance of travel services are published in the Travel services section of the Bank of Greece website.