International tourism, expenditures in Korea
Korea: International tourism, expenditures was 3.1% in 2020. ▬ Flat
International tourism, expenditures in Korea, 1995–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism. Measured in % of total imports.
Analysis
Korea recorded 3.1% for international tourism, expenditures in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of down 47.2% on the previous year and down 24.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, expenditures in Korea peaked at 6.2% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 3.1%, in 2020.
Korea ranks 107th of 186 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
International tourism, expenditures in Korea, year by year
| Year | % of total imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 4.6% | — |
| 1996 | 4.8% | +6.1% |
| 1997 | 4.8% | -1.4% |
| 1998 | 3.6% | -24.9% |
| 1999 | 4.0% | +12.6% |
| 2000 | 4.2% | +5.1% |
| 2001 | 4.9% | +15.9% |
| 2002 | 6.2% | +27.1% |
| 2003 | 5.2% | -16.9% |
| 2004 | 5.1% | -2.5% |
| 2005 | 5.4% | +7.2% |
| 2006 | 5.6% | +3.2% |
| 2007 | 5.6% | +0.5% |
| 2008 | 4.1% | -26.4% |
| 2009 | 4.1% | -0.6% |
| 2010 | 4.1% | -1.4% |
| 2011 | 3.4% | -17.3% |
| 2012 | 3.5% | +3.1% |
| 2013 | 3.8% | +9.2% |
| 2014 | 4.1% | +7.7% |
| 2015 | 5.2% | +28.5% |
| 2016 | 5.9% | +12.4% |
| 2017 | 5.8% | -1.1% |
| 2018 | 5.9% | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 5.8% | -0.7% |
| 2020 | 3.1% | -47.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 4.4% | 3.6% | 4.8% | 5 |
| 2000s | 5.1% | 4.1% | 6.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 4.7% | 3.4% | 5.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.1% | 3.1% | 3.1% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Korea
More private sector data for Korea
- Merchandise trade 71.6% (2025)
- Food imports 6.3% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 60.1% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 631.89 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 1.6% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 87.3% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 709.33 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 13,724 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.3788 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 3.76 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is international tourism, expenditures in Korea?
- International tourism, expenditures in Korea was 3.1% in 2020, according to Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
- What is the highest international tourism, expenditures recorded in Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 6.2% in 2002.
- What is the lowest international tourism, expenditures recorded in Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 3.1% in 2020.
- How does Korea rank for international tourism, expenditures?
- Korea ranks 107th out of 186 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, expenditures rising or falling in Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 24.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism, published as part of International tourism, expenditures (% of total imports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries, including payments to foreign carriers for international transport. These expenditures may include those by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include expenditures for passenger transport items. Their share in imports is calculated as a ratio to imports of goods and services, which comprise all transactions between residents of a country and the rest of the world involving a change of ownership from nonresidents to residents of general merchandise, goods sent for processing and repairs, nonmonetary gold, and services.