International tourism, number of departures in Eswatini
Eswatini: International tourism, number of departures was 488,000 in 2020. ▲ Rising
International tourism, number of departures in Eswatini, 2005–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
Analysis
The most recent figure for international tourism, number of departures in Eswatini is 488,000, measured in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 16 years on record.
That represents a change of down 71.6% on the previous year and down 57.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, number of departures in Eswatini peaked at 1.79 million in 2016 and was at its lowest, 488,000, in 2020.
Eswatini ranks 83rd of 117 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 16 years of available data.
International tourism, number of departures in Eswatini, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 1.08 million | — |
| 2006 | 1.07 million | -0.9% |
| 2007 | 1.13 million | +5.4% |
| 2008 | 1.18 million | +4.2% |
| 2009 | 1.25 million | +5.8% |
| 2010 | 1.14 million | -8.4% |
| 2011 | 1.26 million | +10.8% |
| 2012 | 1.40 million | +11.0% |
| 2013 | 1.57 million | +12.1% |
| 2014 | 1.66 million | +5.3% |
| 2015 | 1.71 million | +3.4% |
| 2016 | 1.79 million | +4.4% |
| 2017 | 1.75 million | -2.1% |
| 2018 | 1.72 million | -1.9% |
| 2019 | 1.72 million | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 488,000 | -71.6% |
Eswatini compared with similar countries
- Eswatini's 488,000 is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 707,000, 69% of the median. (19 countries reporting)
- Eswatini's 488,000 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 93,500, 5.2× the median. (10 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where International tourism, number of departures in Eswatini changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | -71.6% | 1.72 million | 488,000 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 1.14 million | 1.07 million | 1.25 million | 5 |
| 2010s | 1.57 million | 1.14 million | 1.79 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 488,000 | 488,000 | 488,000 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Eswatini
More private sector data for Eswatini
- Merchandise trade 86.4% (2025)
- Food imports 19.6% (2023)
- Manufactures imports 58.1% (2023)
- Merchandise imports 2.09 billion current US$ (2025)
- Commercial service imports 727.36 million current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 29.7% (2023)
- Manufactures exports 59.8% (2023)
- Merchandise exports 2.37 billion current US$ (2025)
- Commercial service exports 311.96 million current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 1,887 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is international tourism, number of departures in Eswatini?
- International tourism, number of departures in Eswatini was 488,000 in 2020, according to Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
- What is the highest international tourism, number of departures recorded in Eswatini?
- The highest recorded value was 1.79 million in 2016.
- What is the lowest international tourism, number of departures recorded in Eswatini?
- The lowest recorded value was 488,000 in 2020.
- How does Eswatini rank for international tourism, number of departures?
- Eswatini ranks 83rd out of 117 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, number of departures rising or falling in Eswatini?
- Over the last ten years it is down 57.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Eswatini 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, number of departures. 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 outbound tourists are the number of departures that people make from their country of usual residence to any other country for any purpose other than a remunerated activity in the country visited. The data on outbound tourists refer to the number of departures, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips from a country during a given period is counted each time as a new departure.