International tourism, expenditures in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia: International tourism, expenditures was 4.7% in 2020. ▼ Falling
International tourism, expenditures in Saudi Arabia, 2002–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism. Measured in % of total imports.
Analysis
In 2020, international tourism, expenditures in Saudi Arabia stood at 4.7%. That is the lowest value across all 16 years on record.
That represents a change of down 34.6% on the previous year and down 62.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, expenditures in Saudi Arabia peaked at 14.9% in 2002 and was at its lowest, 4.7%, in 2020.
That places Saudi Arabia 58th out of 186 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 16 years of available data.
International tourism, expenditures in Saudi Arabia, year by year
| Year | % of total imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 14.9% | — |
| 2003 | 7.6% | -48.8% |
| 2007 | 14.7% | +93.0% |
| 2008 | 9.3% | -36.5% |
| 2009 | 12.9% | +38.4% |
| 2010 | 12.5% | -3.4% |
| 2011 | 9.0% | -27.4% |
| 2012 | 8.3% | -8.8% |
| 2013 | 8.0% | -3.0% |
| 2014 | 9.6% | +19.6% |
| 2015 | 8.1% | -15.1% |
| 2016 | 8.8% | +7.8% |
| 2017 | 9.3% | +6.0% |
| 2018 | 8.4% | -9.3% |
| 2019 | 7.2% | -14.8% |
| 2020 | 4.7% | -34.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 11.9% | 7.6% | 14.9% | 5 |
| 2010s | 8.9% | 7.2% | 12.5% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.7% | 4.7% | 4.7% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Saudi Arabia
- 55 Philippines 4.9% compare
- 56 Bahamas 4.9% compare
- 57 Uzbekistan 4.7% compare
- 59 Antigua and Barbuda 4.7% compare
- 60 Timor-Leste 4.6% compare
- 61 Kyrgyzstan 4.6% compare
More private sector data for Saudi Arabia
- Merchandise trade 44.2% (2025)
- Food imports 13.0% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 70.5% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 254.06 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 1.9% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 15.9% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 310.67 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 8,403 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2433 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 1.69 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is international tourism, expenditures in Saudi Arabia?
- International tourism, expenditures in Saudi Arabia was 4.7% 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 Saudi Arabia?
- The highest recorded value was 14.9% in 2002.
- What is the lowest international tourism, expenditures recorded in Saudi Arabia?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.7% in 2020.
- How does Saudi Arabia rank for international tourism, expenditures?
- Saudi Arabia ranks 58th out of 186 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, expenditures rising or falling in Saudi Arabia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 62.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Saudi Arabia 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.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 16 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
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.