Developments in the balance of travel services: October 2021
22/12/2021 - Press Releases
- The balance of travel services posted a surplus of €1,267 million in October 2021 and of €9,300 million in January-October 2021.
- Travel receipts rose by 159.8% in October 2021 and by 142.0% in January-October 2021.
- Inbound traveller flows increased by 124.5% in October 2021 and by 93.8% in January-October 2021.
Balance of travel services
Based on provisional data, the balance of travel services in October 2021 showed a surplus of €1,267 million, up from a surplus of €490 million in October 2020. More specifically, travel receipts rose by 159.8% to €1,438 million in October 2021 from €554 million in October 2020, while travel payments also increased by 167.8% (October 2021: €171 million, October 2020: €64 million). The rise in travel receipts resulted from a 124.5% increase in inbound traveller flows and a 13.8% rise in average expenditure per trip. Net receipts from travel services offset 55.0% of the goods deficit and contributed 69.9% to total net receipts from services.
In January-October 2021, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €9,300 million, up from a surplus of €3,491 million in the corresponding period of 2020. Travel receipts rose by €5,982 million or 142.0% to €10,196 million, while travel payments increased by €173 million or 23.9% to €896 million. The rise in travel receipts was due to a 93.8% increase in inbound traveller flows, as well as to a rise of 23.7% in average expenditure per trip. Net receipts from travel services offset 46.3% of the goods deficit and contributed 76.4% to total net receipts from services.
Travel receipts
In October 2021, as mentioned previously, travel receipts rose by 159.8% year-on-year. In more detail, receipts from residents of EU27 countries increased by 127.1% to €881 million, while receipts from outside the EU27 increased by 223.3% (October 2021: €526 million, October 2020: €163 million). The rise in receipts from within the EU27 was driven by increases in receipts from euro area residents by 122.2% to €789 million (October 2020: €355 million) and in receipts from residents of non-euro area EU27 countries by 179.8% to €92 million. More specifically, among major euro area countries of origin, receipts from Germany rose by 91.3% to €462 million and receipts from France increased by 77.4% to €90 million. Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom rose by 124.6% to €224 million and receipts from the United States increased by 2,355.1% to €101 million. Receipts from Russia also increased, by 2,159.6% to €28 million.
In January-October 2021, travel receipts increased by 142.0% year-on-year to €10,196 million. This development was driven by a 138.6% increase in receipts from residents of the EU27, which rose to €6,694 million, and by a 135.5% rise in receipts from residents outside the EU27 to €3,299 million. In greater detail, receipts from euro area residents rose by 127.0% to €5,363 million, while receipts from residents of non-euro area EU27 countries increased by 200.4% to €1,331 million. In particular, receipts from Germany increased by 100.6% year-on-year to €2,244 million and receipts from France increased by 173.8% to €997 million. Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom rose by 91.0% to €1,409 million, while receipts from the United States increased by 632.1% to €588 million. Receipts from Russia also increased, by 624.5% to €96 million.
Inbound traveller flows
The number of inbound travellers in October 2021 rose by 124.5% year-on-year to 2,144 thousand. Specifically, traveller flows through airports increased by 121.9% compared with October 2020 and traveller flows through road border-crossing points increased by 221.6%. This overall increase was due to higher traveller flows from both within the EU27 (up by 117.3%) and outside the EU27 (up by 140.9%). In greater detail, the number of travellers from within the euro area rose by 115.6% to 1,225 thousand, while travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries increased by 127.4% to 213 thousand. Specifically, the number of travellers from Germany increased by 71.0% to 669 thousand and travellers from France increased by 73.4% to 135 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom rose by 54.7% to 310 thousand, while the number of travellers from the United States increased by 2,131.4% to 69 thousand and from Russia by 2,020.9% to 28 thousand.
In January-October 2021, the number of inbound travellers rose by 93.8% to 13,763 thousand (January-October 2020: 7,102 thousand). Specifically, traveller flows through airports increased by 103.6%, as did traveller flows through road border-crossing points, by 62.8%. In the period under review, the number of travellers from within the EU27 rose by 103.6% year-on-year to 9,673 thousand and travellers from outside the EU27 increased by 73.9% to 4,091 thousand. The number of travellers from within the euro area rose by 109.1%, while travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries increased by 90.5%. Specifically, travellers from Germany increased by 92.9% to 2,883 thousand and travellers from France increased by 146.8% to 1,141 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom rose by 44.5% to 1,485 thousand, while the number of travellers from the United States increased by 265.9% to 365 thousand and from Russia by 286.4% to 94 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 2021 will be published on 21 January 2022, 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.