Developments in the balance of travel services: December 2023
21/02/2024 - Press Releases
-The balance of travel services posted a surplus of €114.9 million in December 2023 and of €18,014.4 million in the year 2023.
-Travel receipts rose by 41.5% in December 2023 and by 15.7% in the year 2023.
-Inbound traveller flows grew by 32.0% in December 2023 and by 17.6% in the year 2023.
Balance of travel services
Based on provisional data, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €114.9 million in December 2023, up from a surplus of €66.8 million in December 2022. More specifically, in December 2023, travel receipts rose by 41.5% to €344.2 million, up from €243.1 million in December 2022, while travel payments also increased by 30.0% (December 2023: €229.2 million, December 2022: €176.3 million). The rise in travel receipts is attributed to a 32.0% increase in inbound traveller flows, as well as to a rise of 6.3% in average expenditure per trip. Net travel receipts contributed 26.4% of total net receipts from services and offset 4.2% of the goods deficit.
In 2023, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €18.014.4 million, up from a surplus of €15,751.5 million in 2022. Travel receipts rose by €2,783.4 million or 15.7% to €20,459.5 million, while travel payments also increased by €520.5 million or 27.0% to €2,445.1 million. The rise in travel receipts stemmed from a 17.6% increase in inbound traveller flows, as average expenditure per trip fell by 2.7%. Net travel receipts offset 55.6% of the goods deficit and contributed 82.9% of total net receipts from services.
Travel receipts
In December 2023, as previously mentioned, travel receipts rose by 41.5% year-on-year. In more detail, receipts from residents of the EU27 rose by 64.5% to €161.1 million and receipts from outside the EU27 increased by 23.2% (December 2023: €172.2 million, December 2022: €139.8 million). The rise in receipts from within the EU27 was driven by increases in receipts from euro area residents by 60.3% (December 2023: €131.4 million, December 2022: €82.0 million) and in receipts from residents of non-euro area EU27 countries by 86.5% to €29.7 million. More specifically, among major euro area countries of origin, receipts from Germany rose by 110.5% to €52.9 million, while receipts from France increased by 10.9% to €12.4 million. Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom fell by 19.1% to €21.1 million, while receipts from the United States dropped by 27.6% to €23.4 million. Receipts from Russia increased by 106.6% to €1.3 million.
In 2023, travel receipts totalled €20,459.5 million, up by 15.7% relative to 2022. This development was due to increases in receipts from residents of the EU27 by 11.5% to €11,158.3 million and in receipts from residents outside the EU27 by 18.5% to €8,591.5 million. In greater detail, receipts from euro area residents rose by 12.4% to €9,058.9 million, while receipts from residents of non-euro area EU27 countries increased by 7.8% to €2,099.4 million. In particular, receipts from Germany grew by 9.5% to €3,563.8 million, while receipts from France grew by 11.6% to €1,425.4 million. Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom rose by 5.8% to €3,307.8 million, receipts from the United States increased by 14.0% to €1,367.6 million, while receipts from Russia decreased by 20.8% to €32.8 million.
Inbound traveller flows
The number of inbound travellers in December 2023 rose by 32.0% year-on-year to 765.5 thousand. Specifically, traveller flows through airports increased by 24.1% compared to December 2022, while traveller flows through road border-crossing points rose by 47.6%. This overall increase was due to higher traveller flows from both within the EU27 (up by 54.1%) and outside the EU27 (up by 17.3%). In greater detail, travellers from within the euro area rose by 44.0% to 234.8 thousand, while travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries increased by 78.4% to 120.6 thousand. Specifically, the number of travellers from Germany increased by 87.2% to 83.6 thousand, while the number of travellers from France grew by 19.1% to 21.2 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom dropped by 30.4% to 47.9 thousand, while travellers from the United States also decreased by 19.4% to 36.6 thousand. Lastly, the number of travellers from Russia rose by 227.4% to 2.5 thousand.
In 2023, the number of inbound travellers rose by 17.6% to 32,735.2 thousand (2022: 27,835.5 thousand). Specifically, traveller flows through airports grew by 12.7%, while traveller flows through road border-crossing points increased by 34.9%. Τhe number of travellers from within the EU27 rose by 15.6% year-on-year to 19,640.9 thousand and travellers from outside the EU27 increased by 20.8% to 13,094.2 thousand. The number of travellers from within the euro area rose by 11.5% and travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries increased by 24.4%. Specifically, the number of travellers from Germany rose by 9.5% to 4,764.2 thousand, as did the number of travellers from France, by 4.2% to 1,831.0 thousand. Turning to non‑EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom rose by 2.4% to 4,591.7 thousand and the number of travellers from the United States increased by 29.2% to 1,406.5 thousand. Lastly, the number of travellers from Russia fell by 1.0% to 35.7 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 January 2024 will be published on 26 March 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.