Countries Whose Citizens Spend the Most on International Tourism (2025)

International tourism spending — the amount a country's citizens spend while travelling abroad — is both an economic indicator (it represents exports of services to inbound tourists, and imports when your own citizens travel abroad) and a measure of a population's prosperity and global mobility.

Educational only — not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss; past performance does not guarantee future results. Consult a licensed financial advisor before making investment decisions.

Global international tourism spending reached approximately $1.5 trillion in 2023 — nearly recovering to the $1.7 trillion pre-COVID record of 2019. But the recovery has been uneven: China's outbound tourism, which dominated global rankings for a decade, has recovered more slowly than Western markets.

Key takeaways

• China was the world's largest outbound tourism spender before COVID ($255 billion in 2019) — powered by a rapidly growing middle class's pent-up desire for international travel.
• The United States leads in 2023–2024 as Chinese outbound tourism has not fully recovered — Americans spent ~$135 billion internationally in 2023.
• Germany, United Kingdom, and France are consistently in the top 5 European spenders.
• Chinese tourists are the highest-spending per visit among major nationalities when they do travel — averaging $2,000–3,000 per trip vs. ~$1,200 for US visitors.
• The post-COVID luxury travel boom has driven premiumisation: fewer trips but higher per-trip spending in many markets.

Countries whose citizens spend the most on international tourism

(USD billion, international tourism expenditure abroad)

Rank	Country	2019 spending	2023 spending	Notes
1	China	255	~100	Slow COVID recovery; geopolitical
2	United States	135	135+	Surpassed 2019 levels
3	Germany	94	95	Stable; European and long-haul
4	United Kingdom	71	75	—
5	France	50	52	—
6	Australia	37	40	—
7	Canada	35	38	—
8	Russia	35	~10	Sanctions; travel bans; collapse
9	South Korea	31	28	—
10	Italy	28	30	—
11	Japan	20	22	Recovering slowly
12	Netherlands	21	22	—
13	India	22	28	Fastest-growing outbound market
14	Saudi Arabia	23	35	Vision 2030 driving outbound
15	Spain	19	20	—
20	UAE	22	28	Hub + outbound
25	Brazil	12	15	—

Source: UNWTO (United Nations World Tourism Organization) tourism expenditure data and national tourism authority reports (2019, 2023).

Where this data comes from

Tourism expenditure — money spent by a country's citizens travelling abroad — is tracked by the UN World Tourism Organization and national central banks' balance-of-payments accounting. When your citizens spend money in another country on hotels, shopping, dining, or flights, it shows up as a "tourism services export" (foreign currency inflow) in the destination country and as a "tourism services import" in the home country. Most developed countries report tourism expenditure directly; developing countries may estimate based on customs data, credit card transactions, or surveys. The data quality improves for large markets with formalized banking systems; for markets with significant cash-based or informal tourism (e.g., backpacker spending in Southeast Asia), figures are estimates. Additionally, the categorization of spending is imperfect — flights are sometimes counted as "transport" rather than "tourism," and cruise ship spending may be partially attributed to the ship's flag state rather than the tourist's origin. Valuation is in current USD; exchange rate movements therefore create artificial year-on-year changes even if local-currency spending is flat.

The geography of outbound spending: wealth, middle class, and mobility

Outbound tourism spending correlates most strongly with three factors: national income (wealthy countries spend more), middle-class size (rapid middle-class growth drives tourism booms), and geopolitical freedom of movement (visa restrictions and capital controls constrain outbound travel). China's collapse from $255 billion to ~$100 billion between 2019 and 2023 was driven partly by COVID (border restrictions) and partly by geopolitical perception (reduced confidence in Western destinations) and macroeconomic weakness (property sector crisis, youth unemployment). Conversely, India's growth from $22 billion to $28 billion reflects exactly the scenario China experienced before COVID: rapid middle-class expansion combined with improved passport power and aspirations for international experience. The emerging pattern — where travel spending is increasingly concentrated among wealthy and upper-middle-income cohorts while budget travellers face cost-of-living pressures — suggests tourism may become even more stratified, with luxury and ultra-long-haul markets growing while short-haul and budget-oriented travel stagnates.

China's dominance and COVID pause

From 2012 to 2019, Chinese outbound tourism was the most dramatic growth story in global travel:

• Chinese outbound trips grew from ~83 million in 2012 to 169 million in 2019
• Spending grew from ~$109 billion to $255 billion — roughly 1 in 5 dollars spent internationally
• Chinese tourists became the primary revenue driver for luxury retail in Paris, Milan, London, Tokyo, and Hawaii

The reasons: China's rapid middle-class expansion (~400 million people crossed the middle-class income threshold in 15 years), relaxation of outbound travel restrictions, visa liberalisation by destination countries, and the status signal attached to international travel.

COVID devastated Chinese outbound travel — borders closed in early 2020 and did not fully reopen until early 2023. The recovery has been slower than expected:

• Some Chinese tourists remain cautious about Western destinations (geopolitical tensions, incidents of anti-Asian sentiment during COVID)
• Domestic travel alternatives have improved dramatically (China's high-speed rail network, improved domestic resorts)
• Economic confidence concerns (property crisis, youth unemployment) are tempering discretionary spending
• 2023 Chinese outbound spending estimated ~$100 billion — recovering but well below 2019's $255 billion

Full recovery is expected by 2025–2026, and China is projected to return to global leadership in outbound spending.

India: the next growth market

India's outbound tourism spending ($28 billion in 2023, growing ~15%/year) is the most significant growth story in current international travel:

• India's middle class is projected to grow from ~300 million to ~500 million by 2030
• India is the world's fastest-growing large economy
• Visa liberalisation (Indian passport holders now have improved access to 60+ countries vs. fewer than 40 a decade ago)
• Dubai has become the world's most popular destination for Indian tourists
• UK, Canada, Australia attract Indian diaspora travel and aspirational tourists

India is expected to surpass South Korea, Italy, and other traditional European spending countries within 5 years.

Russia's collapse

Russia's outbound travel market ($35 billion in 2019) has essentially collapsed since 2022:

• Western countries (EU, UK, US, Canada) banned Russian passenger flights
• Many Russian citizens lost access to international credit cards (Visa, Mastercard suspended operations)
• Russian passports' utility has declined as more countries require visas

Russian tourists have pivoted to Turkey, UAE, Egypt, and domestic destinations — but international spending volumes are a fraction of pre-2022 levels. This has materially impacted tourism revenues in destinations that heavily relied on Russian visitors (Cyprus, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Thailand's certain resorts).

The luxury travel boom

The post-COVID period has seen a bifurcation in travel:

• Budget/short-trip travel has been slow to recover as cost-of-living pressures affect lower and middle-income travellers
• Luxury and long-haul travel has exceeded pre-COVID levels faster, as high-income travellers released pent-up demand

Premium hotel groups (Four Seasons, Aman, Six Senses), private aviation (NetJets, VistaJet), and luxury cruise lines have all reported record revenues in 2022–2024. Ultra-high-net-worth individuals are spending more per trip and travelling further than before COVID.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most visited country in the world?

France consistently tops arrivals rankings with approximately 89 million international arrivals per year. Spain and United States are close behind. However, arrivals and spending are different measures: the US earns more from tourism despite fewer arrivals than France, because American visitors spend more per trip.

What drives tourism spending differences between nationalities?

Key factors include: income level (wealthier travellers spend more); trip length (Americans take shorter international trips than Europeans, spending less per trip but more per day); distance to destinations (Europeans travel intra-Europe at lower cost; Americans cross the Atlantic at higher cost); cultural preferences (some nationalities have stronger shopping, dining, or activity spending patterns).

Is tourism good for developing countries?

Tourism can be highly beneficial (foreign exchange, local employment, infrastructure development) but can also create dependence, price inflation (making local housing and food unaffordable), cultural commercialisation, and environmental damage. Small island economies (Maldives, Seychelles, Mauritius) derive 20–40%+ of GDP from tourism — making them extremely vulnerable to demand shocks like COVID or natural disasters.

The bottom line

China's decade-long dominance of outbound tourism spending reflected the most rapid middle-class expansion in human history — 400 million people gaining the income and freedom to travel internationally in 15 years. The COVID pause has temporarily returned the US to leadership, but China's return to the top of global outbound spending is a matter of when, not whether. India is the market to watch for the next decade: 1.4 billion people, the world's fastest-growing large economy, and a young population with rising aspirations and improving passport power. International tourism spending is Eventually, a proxy for global middle-class prosperity — and its continued growth is one of the clearest indicators of how dramatically the distribution of global wealth has shifted toward Asia in the past 30 years.

Related Reading

• Countries with the Most International Tourism Arrivals
• Countries with the Most Michelin-Starred Restaurants
• Countries with the Most International Migrants
• Countries with the Largest Economies by GDP
• Countries with the Most Billionaires