Developments in the Balance of Travel Services: March 2015

25/05/2015 - Press Releases

Balance of travel services

In March 2015, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €49 million, up from €46 million in March 2014, based on provisional data. More specifically, travel receipts rose by €24 million or 13.3% to €205 million in March 2015, compared with €181 million in March 2014. Travel payments also increased by 15.0% (March 2015: €156 million; March 2014: €135 million). The increase in travel receipts was mainly driven by a 34.3% increase in arrivals, as the average expenditure per trip decreased by 15.3%. Net receipts from travel services offset 4.9% of the goods deficit and accounted for 8.1% of total net receipts from services.

In January-March 2015, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €69 million, up from a surplus of €56 million in the same period of 2014, an increase of 22.7%. This development is attributed to the increase in travel receipts (by €60 million or 12.8%), which outweighed the increase in payments (by €47 million or 11.4%). Higher travel receipts were mainly due to increased arrivals (by 45.6%), while the average expenditure per trip decreased by 22.2%. Net receipts from travel services offset 1.7% of the goods deficit and accounted for 4.2% of total net receipts from services.

Travel receipts

In March 2015, as mentioned previously, travel receipts rose by 13.3% year-on-year. Looking at the breakdown by country of visitor origin, receipts from residents of the EU-28 dropped by 10.7% (March 2015: €82 million; March 2014: €91 million). Receipts from outside the EU-28 rose by €34 million or 39.5% (March 2015: €120 million; March 2014: €86 million). The decrease in receipts from within the EU-28 was mainly driven by a drop, by €8 million or 15.5%, in receipts from euro area residents, as receipts from non-euro area residents within the EU-28 fell by 3.8% (March 2015: €36 million; March 2014: €38 million). Breaking down receipts by visitor’s country of origin, receipts from Germany rose by 8.2% to €17 million and from France by 8.6% to €4 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom dropped by 13.2% to €12 million (March 2014: €14 million). Turning to the non-EU-28 countries, receipts from Russia fell by 87.9% to €1 million, while those from the United States increased by 47.1% to €16 million.

In January-March 2015, travel receipts increased by 12.8% year-on-year to €532 million. This development is attributed, first, to an increase in receipts from outside the EU-28 (by 16.7% to €266 million) and, to a lesser extent, to an increase in receipts from within the EU-28 (by 9.8% year-on-year to €253 million in January-March 2015). In particular, receipts from euro area residents fell by 2.4% to €138 million, while receipts from non-euro area residents within the EU-28 rose by 29.6% to €114 million. Specifically, receipts from Germany rose by 2.8% to €42 million and those from France by 39.7% to €14 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom increased as well by 25.5% to €42 million. Turning to the non-EU-28 countries, receipts from Russia fell by 73.2% to €5 million, while receipts from the United States rose by 32.9% to €35 million.

Inbound traveller flows (1)

The number of inbound visitors in March 2015 rose by 34.3% year-on-year to 613 thousand. This development primarily reflects an increase by 51.1% in arrivals from within the EU-28 and, to a lesser extent, an increase by 16.3% in arrivals from outside the EU-28. In greater detail, arrivals from the euro area increased by 35.9% to 131 thousand, and arrivals from the non-euro area EU-28 countries rose by 61.6% (March 2015: 225 thousand; March 2014: 139 thousand). Specifically, arrivals from Germany and France rose by 45.6% and 139.7% respectively, while arrivals from the United Kingdom rose by 16.5%. Turning to the non-EU-28 countries, arrivals from Russia fell by 81.7% to 2 thousand, while arrivals from the United States rose by 84.3% to 25 thousand.

In January-March 2015, the number of inbound visitors increased by 45.6% to 1,728 thousand (January-March 2014: 1,187 thousand). In the period under review, arrivals from within the EU-28 rose by 70.6% year-on-year to 1,021 thousand, while arrivals from outside the EU-28 increased by 20.3% to 708 thousand. Arrivals from the euro area rose by 29.7%, while arrivals from the non-euro area EU-28 countries rose by 105.7%. More specifically, arrivals from Germany and France rose by 35.9% and 94.2% respectively, while arrivals from the United Kingdom rose by 37.7%. Finally, turning to the non-EU-28 countries, arrivals from Russia fell by 66.9% to 9 thousand, while those from the United States increased by 49.7% to 48 thousand.

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