Developments in the balance of travel services: October 2023
22/12/2023 - Press Releases
- The balance of travel services posted a surplus of €1,496.1 million in October 2023 and a surplus of €17,567.0 million in January-October 2023.
- Travel receipts rose by 10.2% in October 2023 and by 14.7% in January-October 2023.
- Inbound traveller flows increased by 14.0% in October 2023 and by 17.0% in January-October 2023.
Balance of travel services
Based on provisional data, the balance of travel services in October 2023 showed a surplus of €1,496.1 million, up from a surplus of €1,349.7 million in October 2022. More specifically, travel receipts in October 2023 rose by 10.2% to €1,692.9 million, from €1,536.0 million in October 2022, while travel payments also increased by 5.7% (October 2023: €196.8 million, October 2022: €186.3 million). The rise in travel receipts is attributed to a 14.0% increase in inbound traveller flows, as average expenditure per trip declined by 3.5%. Net receipts from travel services accounted for 80.9% of total net receipts from services and offset 50.2% of the goods deficit.
In January-October 2023, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €17,567.0 million, up from a surplus of €15,486.2 million in the same period of 2022. Travel receipts rose by €2,516.6 million, or 14.7%, to €19,612.4 million, while travel payments also increased by €435.8 million, or 27.1%, to €2,045.3 million. The rise in travel receipts stemmed from a 17.0% increase in inbound traveller flows, as average expenditure per trip fell by 2.5%. Net travel receipts offset 65.6% of the goods deficit and contributed 84.6% to total net receipts from services.
Travel receipts
In October 2023, as mentioned previously, travel receipts rose by 10.2% year-on-year. In more detail, receipts from within the EU27 increased by 10.7% to €920.9 million, while receipts from outside the EU27 increased by 9.1% (October 2023: €694.6 million, October 2022: €636.4 million). The rise in receipts from within the EU27 is attributed to increases in receipts from euro area residents by 8.2% (October 2023: €797.1 million, October 2022: €736.6 million) and in receipts from residents of non-euro area EU27 countries by 30.3% to €123.8 million. More specifically, among major euro area countries of origin, receipts from Germany rose by 18.5% to €430.9 million, while receipts from France increased by 13.2% to €98.3 million. Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom grew by 25.3% to €311.3 million, while receipts from the United States fell by 29.4% to €102.0 million. Receipts from Russia decreased by 38.9% to €1.9 million.
In January-October 2023, travel receipts totalled €19,612.4 million, up by 14.7% relative to the same period of 2022. This development was due to increases in receipts from residents of the EU27 by 11.6% to €10,902.5 million and in receipts from residents outside the EU27 by 17.5% to €8,153.3 million. In greater detail, receipts from euro area residents rose by 11.7% to €8,786.3 million, while receipts from residents of non-euro area EU27 countries increased by 11.5% to €2,116.3 million. In particular, receipts from Germany grew by 6.0% to €3,396.6 million, while receipts from France grew by 10.8% to €1,389.0 million. Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom rose by 8.3% to €3,326.0 million. Receipts from the United States increased by 8.0% to €1,217.7 million, while receipts from Russia dropped by 25.0% to €29.9 million.
Inbound traveller flows
The number of inbound travellers in October 2023 rose by 14.0% year-on-year to 3,143.1 thousand. Specifically, traveller flows through airports increased by 14.1% compared with October 2022, while traveller flows through road border-crossing points rose by 14.7%. This overall increase was due to higher traveller flows from both within the EU27 (up by 11.6%) and outside the EU27 (up by 17.3%). In greater detail, travellers from within the euro area rose by 10.7% to 1,393.4 thousand. Travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries also increased by 15.3% to 388.5 thousand. Specifically, the number of travellers from Germany increased by 10.7% to 687.6 thousand, while the number of travellers from France decreased by 6.2% to 155.2 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom increased by 17.5% to 609.1 thousand, while travellers from the United States also rose by 15.1% to 160.8 thousand. Finally, the number of travellers from Russia decreased by 12.3% to 2.9 thousand.
In January-October 2023, the number of inbound travellers rose by 17.0% to 30,933.6 thousand (January-October 2022: 26,443.1 thousand). Specifically, traveller flows through airports grew by 12.0%, while traveller flows through road border-crossing points increased by 35.2%. In the period under review, the number of travellers from within the EU27 rose by 14.6% year-on-year to 18,728.7 thousand and travellers from outside the EU27 increased by 20.8% to 12,204.8 thousand. The number of travellers from within the euro area rose by 10.1% and travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries increased by 24.5%. Specifically, the number of travellers from Germany rose by 7.1% to 4,543.1 thousand, as did the number of travellers from France, by 4.2% to 1,782.0 thousand. Turning to non ΕU‑27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom rose by 2.8% to 4,491.5 thousand and travellers from the United States also increased by 30.0% to 1,268.8 thousand. Finally, the number of travellers from Russia fell by 4.6% to 33.0 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 November 2023 will be published on 22 January 2024, 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.