Travel services in Latin America & Caribbean
Latin America & Caribbean: Travel services was 41.9% in 2025. ▬ Flat
Travel services in Latin America & Caribbean, 1979–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of commercial service exports.
Analysis
The most recent figure for travel services in Latin America & Caribbean is 41.9%, measured in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.1% on the previous year and down 2.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, travel services in Latin America & Caribbean peaked at 50.3% in 2001 and was at its lowest, 27.3%, in 2020.
Latin America & Caribbean ranks 5th of 45 groups on this measure, in the top 10%.
Travel services in Latin America & Caribbean, year by year
| Year | % of commercial service exports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 43.5% | — |
| 1980 | 39.9% | -8.3% |
| 1981 | 39.1% | -2.1% |
| 1982 | 37.3% | -4.5% |
| 1983 | 36.8% | -1.4% |
| 1984 | 38.3% | +4.2% |
| 1985 | 35.1% | -8.3% |
| 1986 | 38.3% | +8.8% |
| 1987 | 37.1% | -2.9% |
| 1988 | 35.6% | -4.2% |
| 1989 | 43.0% | +20.9% |
| 1990 | 42.5% | -1.1% |
| 1991 | 40.6% | -4.4% |
| 1992 | 38.6% | -5.0% |
| 1993 | 39.4% | +2.1% |
| 1994 | 36.9% | -6.5% |
| 1995 | 37.6% | +2.1% |
| 1996 | 38.0% | +1.0% |
| 1997 | 37.4% | -1.7% |
| 1998 | 50.0% | +33.9% |
| 1999 | 49.3% | -1.4% |
| 2000 | 47.8% | -3.0% |
| 2001 | 50.3% | +5.1% |
| 2002 | 45.6% | -9.2% |
| 2003 | 46.7% | +2.2% |
| 2004 | 48.9% | +4.8% |
| 2005 | 47.7% | -2.4% |
| 2006 | 47.2% | -1.1% |
| 2007 | 44.8% | -5.2% |
| 2008 | 43.5% | -2.9% |
| 2009 | 44.0% | +1.3% |
| 2010 | 42.7% | -3.0% |
| 2011 | 40.5% | -5.1% |
| 2012 | 40.8% | +0.7% |
| 2013 | 40.5% | -0.7% |
| 2014 | 41.5% | +2.4% |
| 2015 | 43.1% | +3.9% |
| 2016 | 45.1% | +4.6% |
| 2017 | 44.6% | -1.0% |
| 2018 | 44.2% | -0.9% |
| 2019 | 43.7% | -1.2% |
| 2020 | 27.3% | -37.5% |
| 2021 | 29.1% | +6.4% |
| 2022 | 37.7% | +29.6% |
| 2023 | 40.7% | +8.2% |
| 2024 | 40.2% | -1.3% |
| 2025 | 41.9% | +4.1% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Travel services in Latin America & Caribbean 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 | -37.5% | 43.7% | 27.3% |
| 1998 | +33.9% | 37.4% | 50.0% |
| 2022 | +29.6% | 29.1% | 37.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 43.5% | 43.5% | 43.5% | 1 |
| 1980s | 38.1% | 35.1% | 43.0% | 10 |
| 1990s | 41.0% | 36.9% | 50.0% | 10 |
| 2000s | 46.6% | 43.5% | 50.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 42.7% | 40.5% | 45.1% | 10 |
| 2020s | 36.1% | 27.3% | 41.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Latin America & Caribbean
- 2 Maldives 95.3% compare
- 3 Bahamas 94.8% compare
- 4 Sao Tome and Principe 94.5% compare
- 5 Palau 93.9% compare
- 6 Saint Lucia 93.5% compare
- 7 Gambia 89.8% compare
- 8 Macau, China 89.4% compare
More private sector data for Latin America & Caribbean
- Merchandise trade 44.2% (2025)
- Food imports 9.1% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 73.2% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 1.66 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 24.7% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 46.5% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 1.67 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 2,503 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.2256 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 6.02 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is travel services in Latin America & Caribbean?
- Travel services in Latin America & Caribbean was 41.9% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest travel services recorded in Latin America & Caribbean?
- The highest recorded value was 50.3% in 2001.
- What is the lowest travel services recorded in Latin America & Caribbean?
- The lowest recorded value was 27.3% in 2020.
- How does Latin America & Caribbean rank for travel services?
- Latin America & Caribbean ranks 5th out of 45 groups with data for 2025.
- Is travel services rising or falling in Latin America & Caribbean?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
- Where does this Latin America & Caribbean data come from?
- The figures come from Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Travel services (% of commercial service exports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 47 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Travel services cover goods and services for own use or to give away acquired from an economy by nonresidents during visits to that economy, or acquired from other economies by residents during visits to these other economies. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of service exports which are commercial services provided by residents to non-residents.