Developments in the Balance of Travel Services: April 2015

23/06/2015 - Press Releases

Balance of travel services

In April 2015, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €312 million, up from €222 million in April 2014, based on provisional data. More specifically, travel receipts rose by €67 million or 16.3% to €477 million in April 2015, compared with €410 million in April 2014. Travel payments decreased by 12.3% (April 2015: €165 million; April 2014: €188 million). The increase in travel receipts was mainly driven by an increase by 28.3% in arrivals, as the average expenditure per trip decreased by 8.4%. Net receipts from travel services offset 19% of the goods deficit and accounted for 32.7% of total net receipts from services.

In January-April 2015, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €381 million, up from a surplus of €279 million in the same period of 2014, an increase of 36.8%. This development is attributed to the increase in travel receipts (by €127 million or 14.4%), which outweighed the increase in payments (by €24 million or 4.0%). Higher travel receipts were mainly due to increased arrivals (by 39.1%), as the average expenditure per trip decreased by 17.1%. Net receipts from travel services offset 6.5% of the goods deficit and accounted for 14.8% of total net receipts from services.

Travel receipts

In April 2015, as mentioned previously, travel receipts rose by 16.3% year-on-year. Looking at the breakdown by visitor’s country of origin, receipts from residents of the EU-28 rose by 19.0% (April 2015: €263 million; April 2014: €221 million). Receipts from outside the EU-28 rose by €25 million or 15.6% (April 2015: €187 million; April 2014: €162 million). The increase in receipts from within the EU-28 is attributed primarily to a rise (by €34 million or 54.1%) in receipts from non-euro area residents, and, to a lesser extent, to an increase by 5.2% in receipts from euro area residents (April 2015: €167 million; April 2014: €159 million). Breaking down receipts by visitor’s country of origin, receipts from Germany dropped by 1.1% to €61 million and those from France by 7.0% to €34 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom increased by 66.2% to €60 million (April 2014: €36 million). Turning to the non-EU-28 countries, receipts from Russia fell by 19.4% to €14 million, while those from the United States increased by 25.2% to €37 million.

In January-April 2015, travel receipts increased by 14.4% year-on-year to €1,008 million. This development is attributed to a year-on-year increase in receipts both from outside the EU-28 (by 16.3% to €454 million) and from within the EU-28 (by 14.3% to €516 million). In particular, receipts from euro area residents increased by 1.6% to €306 million, while receipts from non-euro area residents within the EU-28 rose by 39.7% to €210 million. Specifically, receipts from Germany remained roughly stable at €103 million, while receipts from France rose by 3.1% to €48 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom increased as well by 46.5% to €102 million. Turning to the non-EU-28 countries, receipts from Russia fell by 12.5% to €33 million, while receipts from the United States rose by 67.2% to €94 million.

Inbound traveller flows (1)

The number of inbound visitors in April 2015 rose by 28.3% year-on-year to 934 thousand. This development primarily reflects an increase by 39.3% in arrivals from within the EU-28 and, to a lesser extent, an increase by 13.1% in arrivals from outside the EU-28. In greater detail, arrivals from the euro area increased by 7.2% to 281 thousand, and arrivals from the non-euro area EU-28 countries rose by 91.6% (April 2015: 308 thousand; April 2014: 161 thousand). Specifically, arrivals from Germany rose by 4.8%, while arrivals from France dropped by 2.0%. Arrivals from the United Kingdom rose by 52.5% to 89 thousand. Turning to the non-EU-28 countries, arrivals from Russia increased by 4.1% to 12 thousand, while arrivals from the United States rose by 61.4% to 42 thousand.

In January-April 2015, the number of inbound visitors increased by 39.1% to 2,663 thousand (January-April 2014: 1,915 thousand). In the period under review, arrivals from within the EU-28 rose by 57.6% year-on-year to 1,610 thousand, while arrivals from outside the EU-28 increased by 17.8% to 1,052 thousand. Arrivals from the euro area rose by 18.7%, while arrivals from the non-euro area EU-28 countries rose by 101.0%. More specifically, arrivals from Germany and France rose by 19.9% and 23.8% respectively, while arrivals from the United Kingdom rose by 44.3%. Finally, turning to the non-EU-28 countries, arrivals from Russia fell by 45.2% to 20 thousand, while those from the United States increased by 54.9% to 90 thousand.

(1) Inbound traveller flows exclude cruise passengers (apart from those recorded in the Border Survey).