Travel services in China
China: Travel services was 41.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Travel services in China, 1982–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of commercial service imports.
Analysis
In 2025, travel services in China stood at 41.0%.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.6% on the previous year and down 28.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, travel services in China peaked at 57.7% in 2015 and was at its lowest, 2.9%, in 1983.
China ranks 23rd of 198 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 44 years of available data.
Travel services in China, year by year
| Year | % of commercial service imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | 3.5% | — |
| 1983 | 2.9% | -18.6% |
| 1984 | 5.7% | +97.7% |
| 1985 | 13.9% | +143.9% |
| 1986 | 15.2% | +9.5% |
| 1987 | 16.6% | +9.0% |
| 1988 | 19.0% | +14.8% |
| 1989 | 12.0% | -36.9% |
| 1990 | 11.4% | -4.8% |
| 1991 | 13.0% | +13.6% |
| 1992 | 27.3% | +110.2% |
| 1993 | 24.2% | -11.3% |
| 1994 | 19.2% | -20.5% |
| 1995 | 15.0% | -22.2% |
| 1996 | 20.0% | +33.6% |
| 1997 | 29.0% | +45.0% |
| 1998 | 34.1% | +17.6% |
| 1999 | 34.5% | +1.2% |
| 2000 | 36.3% | +5.3% |
| 2001 | 35.5% | -2.4% |
| 2002 | 33.2% | -6.2% |
| 2003 | 27.6% | -17.1% |
| 2004 | 27.3% | -1.0% |
| 2005 | 26.1% | -4.3% |
| 2006 | 24.2% | -7.1% |
| 2007 | 23.0% | -5.0% |
| 2008 | 22.9% | -0.7% |
| 2009 | 27.6% | +20.8% |
| 2010 | 28.5% | +3.3% |
| 2011 | 29.4% | +3.0% |
| 2012 | 36.4% | +23.7% |
| 2013 | 39.0% | +7.3% |
| 2014 | 52.8% | +35.2% |
| 2015 | 57.7% | +9.3% |
| 2016 | 57.1% | -1.1% |
| 2017 | 55.0% | -3.5% |
| 2018 | 53.2% | -3.4% |
| 2019 | 53.1% | -0.3% |
| 2020 | 35.1% | -33.8% |
| 2021 | 26.6% | -24.3% |
| 2022 | 27.4% | +3.1% |
| 2023 | 37.5% | +36.8% |
| 2024 | 42.1% | +12.2% |
| 2025 | 41.0% | -2.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 11.1% | 2.9% | 19.0% | 8 |
| 1990s | 22.8% | 11.4% | 34.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 28.4% | 22.9% | 36.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 46.2% | 28.5% | 57.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 35.0% | 26.6% | 42.1% | 6 |
Countries ranked near China
- 20 Argentina 41.5% compare
- 21 Uzbekistan 41.4% compare
- 22 Guinea-Bissau 41.2% compare
- 24 Republic of Moldova 40.1% compare
- 25 Philippines 39.9% compare
- 26 Comoros 39.9% compare
More private sector data for China
- Merchandise trade 32.6% (2025)
- Food imports 8.1% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 49.3% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 2.58 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 2.4% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 91.2% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 3.77 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 2,682 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.1934 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 5.48 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is travel services in China?
- Travel services in China was 41.0% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest travel services recorded in China?
- The highest recorded value was 57.7% in 2015.
- What is the lowest travel services recorded in China?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.9% in 1983.
- How does China rank for travel services?
- China ranks 23rd out of 198 countries with data for 2025.
- Is travel services rising or falling in China?
- Over the last ten years it is down 28.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this China 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 imports). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 44 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 imports which are commercial services provided by non-residents to residents.