Developments in the balance of travel services: June 2021
23/08/2021 - Press Releases
- The balance of travel services posted a surplus of €689 million in June 2021 and a surplus of €826 million in January-June 2021.
- Travel receipts rose by 851.8% in June 2021 and by 51.0% in January-June 2021.
- Inbound traveller flows increased by 317.1% in June 2021, but fell by 20.4% in January-June 2021.
Balance of travel services
Based on provisional data, the balance of travel services in June 2021 showed a surplus of €689 million, up from a surplus of €39 million in June 2020. More specifically, travel receipts rose by 851.8% to €791 million in June 2021, from €83 million in June 2020, while travel payments also increased by 127.4% (June 2021: €101 million, June 2020: €45 million). The rise in travel receipts is attributed to a 317.1% increase in inbound traveller flows, as well as to a rise of 124.8% in average expenditure per trip. Net receipts from travel services offset 33.1% of the goods deficit and contributed 82.6% to total net receipts from services.
In January-June 2021, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €826 million, up from a surplus of €256 million in the corresponding period of 2020. Travel receipts rose by €374 million or 51.0% to €1,108 million, whereas travel payments decreased by €196 million or 41.0% to €282 million. The rise in travel receipts reflected an 88.0% increase in average expenditure per trip, as inbound traveller flows decreased by 20.4%. Net receipts from travel services offset 7.6% of the goods deficit and contributed 37.7% to total net receipts from services.
Travel receipts
In June 2021, as mentioned previously, travel receipts rose by 851.8% year-on-year. In more detail, receipts from residents of EU27 countries increased by 1,208.0% to €558 million, while receipts from outside the EU27 rose by 447.1% (June 2021: €221 million, June 2020: €41 million). The rise in receipts from within the EU27 was due to increases in receipts by euro area residents by 1,508.8% to €429 million (June 2020: €27 million) and in receipts from residents of non-euro area EU27 countries by 706.4% to €129 million. Among major euro area countries of origin, receipts from Germany rose by 1,570.9% to €212 million and receipts from France increased by 4,773.9% to €75 million. Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom increased by 1,838.8% to €56 million and receipts from the United States increased by 9,853.4% to €35 million. Receipts from Russia also increased, to €2 million.
In January-June 2021, travel receipts increased by 51.0% year-on-year to €1.108 million. This development was driven by receipts from residents of the EU27, which rose by 153.3% to €769 million, as receipts from residents outside the EU27 fell by 24.1% to €325 million. In greater detail, receipts from euro area residents increased by 153.1% to €599 million, while receipts from residents of non-euro area EU27 countries rose by 153.9% to €170 million. In particular, receipts from Germany increased by 299.5% year-on-year to €275 million and receipts from France increased by 486.3% to €105 million. Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom rose by 28.4% to €72 million, while receipts from the United States decreased by 29.4% to €43 million. Receipts from Russia also decreased, by 72.7% to €3 million.
Inbound traveller flows1
The number of inbound travellers in June 2021 rose by 317.1% year-on-year to 1,069 thousand. Specifically, traveller flows through airports rose by 2,845.6% relative to June 2020, whereas traveller flows through road border-crossing points fell by 0.7%. This overall increase was due to higher traveller flows from both within the EU27 (up by 312.2%) and outside the EU27 (up by 329.5%). In greater detail, the number of travellers from within the euro area rose by 1,952.4% to 513 thousand, while travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries increased by 53.4% to 243 thousand. In particular, the number of travellers from Germany rose to 237 thousand, while travellers from France rose to 85 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia was 60 thousand, 31 thousand and 3 thousand, respectively.
In January-June 2021, the number of inbound travellers fell by 20.4% to 1,733 thousand (January-June 2020: 2,178 thousand). Specifically, traveller flows through airports increased by 15.4%, whereas traveller flows through road border-crossing points declined by 59.1%. In the period under review, the number of travellers from within the EU27 rose by 4.5% year-on-year to 1,183 thousand, whereas travellers from outside the EU27 dropped by 47.4% to 550 thousand. The number of travellers from within the euro area rose by 56.5%, while travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries declined by 38.2%. Specifically, the number of travellers from Germany increased by 131.5% to 342 thousand, while travellers from France rose by 267.3% to 128 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom fell by 22.8% to 90 thousand, while the number of travellers from the United States decreased by 55.4% to 38 thousand and from Russia by 82.4% to 4 thousand.
1 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 July 2021 will be published on 21 September 2021, 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.