International tourism, number of departures in United States
United States: International tourism, number of departures was 60.55 million in 2020. ▲ Rising
International tourism, number of departures in United States, 1995–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
Analysis
In 2020, international tourism, number of departures in United States stood at 60.55 million. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of down 64.6% on the previous year and down 50.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, number of departures in United States peaked at 170.93 million in 2019 and was at its lowest, 60.55 million, in 2020.
United States ranks 2nd of 117 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
International tourism, number of departures in United States, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 74.03 million | — |
| 1996 | 76.80 million | +3.7% |
| 1997 | 78.48 million | +2.2% |
| 1998 | 82.76 million | +5.4% |
| 1999 | 84.54 million | +2.2% |
| 2000 | 87.97 million | +4.1% |
| 2001 | 84.75 million | -3.7% |
| 2002 | 80.88 million | -4.6% |
| 2003 | 75.88 million | -6.2% |
| 2004 | 79.66 million | +5.0% |
| 2005 | 79.22 million | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 148.51 million | +87.5% |
| 2007 | 140.36 million | -5.5% |
| 2008 | 136.15 million | -3.0% |
| 2009 | 129.95 million | -4.5% |
| 2010 | 121.57 million | -6.4% |
| 2011 | 114.09 million | -6.2% |
| 2012 | 116.33 million | +2.0% |
| 2013 | 118.97 million | +2.3% |
| 2014 | 121.70 million | +2.3% |
| 2015 | 130.36 million | +7.1% |
| 2016 | 141.53 million | +8.6% |
| 2017 | 148.04 million | +4.6% |
| 2018 | 158.44 million | +7.0% |
| 2019 | 170.93 million | +7.9% |
| 2020 | 60.55 million | -64.6% |
United States compared with similar countries
- United States's 60.55 million is above the median for high income countries, which is 2.67 million, 22.7× the median. (56 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where International tourism, number of departures in United States 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | +87.5% | 79.22 million | 148.51 million |
| 2020 | -64.6% | 170.93 million | 60.55 million |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 79.32 million | 74.03 million | 84.54 million | 5 |
| 2000s | 104.33 million | 75.88 million | 148.51 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 134.20 million | 114.09 million | 170.93 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 60.55 million | 60.55 million | 60.55 million | 1 |
Countries ranked near United States
More private sector data for United States
- Merchandise trade 18.5% (2025)
- Food imports 6.7% (2025)
- Manufactures imports 78.8% (2025)
- Merchandise imports 3.51 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Commercial service imports 884.71 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 9.0% (2025)
- Manufactures exports 54.9% (2025)
- Merchandise exports 2.19 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Commercial service exports 1.21 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 6,394 current US$ per person (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is international tourism, number of departures in United States?
- International tourism, number of departures in United States was 60.55 million 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 United States?
- The highest recorded value was 170.93 million in 2019.
- What is the lowest international tourism, number of departures recorded in United States?
- The lowest recorded value was 60.55 million in 2020.
- How does United States rank for international tourism, number of departures?
- United States ranks 2nd out of 117 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, number of departures rising or falling in United States?
- Over the last ten years it is down 50.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this United States 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 — 26 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.