Developments in the balance of travel services: April 2021
22/06/2021 - Press Releases
- The balance of travel services posted a surplus of €10 million in April 2021 and a surplus of €29 million during the period January - April 2021.
- Travel receipts rose by 211.0% in April 2021, but decreased by 79.3% during the period January - April 2021.
- Inbound traveller flows increased by 185.6% in April 2021, but fell by 79.7% during the period January - April 2021.
Balance of travel services
Based on provisional data, the balance of travel services, in April 2021, showed a surplus of €10 million, up from a surplus of €5 million in April 2020. More specifically, travel receipts in April 2021 rose by 211.0% to €43 million, from €14 million in April 2020, while travel payments also increased by 273.0% (April 2021: €33 million, April 2020: €9 million). The rise in travel receipts is attributed to a 185.6% increase in inbound traveller flows, as well as to a rise of 8.9% in average expenditure per trip. Net receipts from travel services offset 0.5% of the goods deficit and contributed 3.2% to total net receipts from services.
In January-April 2021, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €29 million, down from a surplus of €206 million in the same period of 2020. Travel receipts fell by €481million or 79.3% to €126 million, while travel payments also decreased by €304 million or 75.9% to €97 million. The decrease in travel receipts was driven by a decline in inbound traveller flows (-79.7%), whereas average expenditure per trip rose by 2.5%. Net receipts from travel services offset 0.4% of the goods deficit and contributed 2.6% to total net receipts from services.
Travel receipts
In April 2021, as mentioned previously, travel receipts rose by 211.0% year-on-year. In more detail, receipts from residents of EU27 countries increased by 223.2% to €24 million, while receipts from outside the EU27 rose by 196.7% (April 2021: €19 million, April 2020: €6 million). The rise in receipts from within the EU27 was due to increases in receipts from euro area residents by 348.5% to €21 million (April 2020: €5 million) and in receipts from residents of non-euro area EU27 countries by 24.4% to €4 million. Among major countries of origin, receipts from Germany rose by 679.2% to €8 million and receipts from France rose by 865.6% to €2 million. Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom increased by 64.3% to €1 million and receipts from the United States increased by 694.2% to €1 million. Receipts from Russia posted a very high percentage increase, but remained under €1 million.
In January-April 2021, travel receipts decreased by 79.3% year-on-year to €126 million. This development was driven by a 72.5% decline in receipts from residents of EU27 countries, which fell to €66 million, and by an 83.6% drop in receipts from residents of non-EU27 countries to €60 million. In further detail, receipts from euro area residents fell by 74.1% to €50 million, while receipts from residents of non-euro area EU27 countries fell by 65.4% to €16 million. In particular, receipts from Germany dropped by 59.7% to €20 million and receipts from France fell by 71.9% to €4 million. Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom fell by 88.2% to €6 million and receipts from the United States decreased by 96.3% to €2 million. Receipts from Russia also decreased, by 94.9% to less than €1 million.
Inbound traveller flows1
The number of inbound travellers, in April 2021, rose by 185.6% year-on-year to 107 thousand. Specifically, traveller flows through airports increased significantly from almost nil in April 2020, while traveller flows through road border-crossing points increased by 34.4% This overall increase was due to higher traveller flows from both within the EU27 (up by 195.1%) and outside the EU27 (up by 173.6%). In greater detail, the number of travellers from within the euro area rose by 1,657.4% to 42 thousand, while travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries rose by 4.3% to 19 thousand. In particular, the number of travellers from Germany rose to 12 thousand, while travellers from France also rose to 4 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia was 4 thousand, 1 thousand and less than 1 thousand, respectively.
In January-April 2021, the number of inbound travellers fell by 79.7% to 378 thousand (January-April 2020: 1,866 thousand). Specifically, traveller flows through airports declined by 82.9% and traveller flows through road border-crossing points fell by 81.0%. In the period under review, the number of travellers from within the EU27 dropped by 76.0% year-on-year to 221 thousand, while travellers from outside the EU27 dropped by 83.3% to 157 thousand. The number of travellers from within the euro area fell by 71.9%, whereas travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries dropped by 80.6%. Specifically, the number of visitors from Germany decreased by 62.9% to 50 thousand, while travellers from France decreased by 64.2% to 12 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom fell by 84.0% to 19 thousand, while the number of travellers from the United States dropped by 95.9% to 4 thousand and from Russia by 95.3% to 1 thousand.
1 Inbound traveller flows exclude cruise passengers (apart from those recorded in the Border Survey).
Related information:
The next Press Release on “Developments in the balance of travel services” for May 2021 will be published on 22 July 2021, in accordance with the Advance release calendar posted on the Bank of Greece website.
Related link(s):
Detailed and final data on the balance of travel services are published in the Travel services section of the Bank of Greece website.