International tourism, receipts in South Africa
South Africa: International tourism, receipts was 2.9% in 2020. ▼ Falling
International tourism, receipts in South Africa, 1995–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism. Measured in % of total exports.
Analysis
In 2020, international tourism, receipts in South Africa stood at 2.9%. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
That represents a change of down 66.3% on the previous year and down 69.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, receipts in South Africa peaked at 14.1% in 2003 and was at its lowest, 2.9%, in 2020.
That places South Africa 121st out of 183 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 26 years of available data.
International tourism, receipts in South Africa, year by year
| Year | % of total exports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 7.7% | — |
| 1996 | 8.8% | +14.6% |
| 1997 | 9.4% | +5.9% |
| 1998 | 9.9% | +5.6% |
| 1999 | 10.1% | +2.2% |
| 2000 | 9.0% | -10.6% |
| 2001 | 9.1% | +0.5% |
| 2002 | 10.0% | +10.5% |
| 2003 | 14.1% | +40.7% |
| 2004 | 13.0% | -8.1% |
| 2005 | 12.7% | -2.2% |
| 2006 | 11.7% | -8.0% |
| 2007 | 11.0% | -6.0% |
| 2008 | 8.9% | -18.6% |
| 2009 | 10.4% | +16.5% |
| 2010 | 9.5% | -8.1% |
| 2011 | 8.4% | -11.7% |
| 2012 | 9.5% | +12.6% |
| 2013 | 9.2% | -3.0% |
| 2014 | 9.5% | +3.1% |
| 2015 | 9.5% | -0.1% |
| 2016 | 9.6% | +1.5% |
| 2017 | 9.3% | -3.2% |
| 2018 | 8.8% | -5.7% |
| 2019 | 8.6% | -2.6% |
| 2020 | 2.9% | -66.3% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 2.9% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 5.1%, 56% of the median. (53 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 2.9% is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 6.6%, 44% of the median. (42 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where International tourism, receipts in South Africa 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 | -66.3% | 8.6% | 2.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 9.2% | 7.7% | 10.1% | 5 |
| 2000s | 11.0% | 8.9% | 14.1% | 10 |
| 2010s | 9.2% | 8.4% | 9.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.9% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 1 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More private sector data for South Africa
- Merchandise trade 57.2% (2025)
- Food imports 7.2% (2025)
- Manufactures imports 62.1% (2025)
- Merchandise imports 128.08 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 12.8% (2025)
- Manufactures exports 38.3% (2025)
- Merchandise exports 116.40 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 1,798 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2725 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 5.74 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is international tourism, receipts in South Africa?
- International tourism, receipts in South Africa was 2.9% in 2020, according to Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
- What is the highest international tourism, receipts recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 14.1% in 2003.
- What is the lowest international tourism, receipts recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.9% in 2020.
- How does South Africa rank for international tourism, receipts?
- South Africa ranks 121st out of 183 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, receipts rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 69.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this South Africa 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, receipts (% of total exports). 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 tourism receipts are expenditures by international inbound visitors, including payments to national carriers for international transport. These receipts include any other prepayment made for goods or services received in the destination country. They also may include receipts from same-day visitors, except when these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include receipts for passenger transport items. Their share in exports is calculated as a ratio to exports 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 residents to nonresidents of general merchandise, goods sent for processing and repairs, nonmonetary gold, and services.