Travel services in North America
North America: Travel services was 22.4% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Travel services in North America, 1970–2025
Source: Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in % of commercial service imports.
Analysis
North America recorded 22.4% for travel services in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.8% on the previous year and down 3.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, travel services in North America peaked at 42.9% in 1970 and was at its lowest, 8.3%, in 2020.
That places North America 19th out of 47 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 56 years of available data.
Travel services in North America, year by year
| Year | % of commercial service imports | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 42.9% | — |
| 1971 | 42.5% | -0.9% |
| 1972 | 42.4% | -0.2% |
| 1973 | 39.7% | -6.5% |
| 1974 | 37.1% | -6.5% |
| 1975 | 38.2% | +2.9% |
| 1976 | 36.3% | -4.9% |
| 1977 | 36.6% | +0.8% |
| 1978 | 36.5% | -0.2% |
| 1979 | 34.9% | -4.4% |
| 1980 | 35.5% | +1.6% |
| 1981 | 35.6% | +0.2% |
| 1982 | 33.7% | -5.3% |
| 1983 | 34.2% | +1.4% |
| 1984 | 42.4% | +24.0% |
| 1985 | 41.9% | -1.2% |
| 1986 | 39.1% | -6.5% |
| 1987 | 39.2% | +0.2% |
| 1988 | 39.3% | +0.2% |
| 1989 | 39.2% | -0.2% |
| 1990 | 39.1% | -0.4% |
| 1991 | 37.0% | -5.3% |
| 1992 | 38.6% | +4.3% |
| 1993 | 37.9% | -1.8% |
| 1994 | 36.6% | -3.3% |
| 1995 | 35.4% | -3.5% |
| 1996 | 35.2% | -0.3% |
| 1997 | 34.9% | -1.0% |
| 1998 | 34.4% | -1.5% |
| 1999 | 31.8% | -7.4% |
| 2000 | 30.8% | -3.3% |
| 2001 | 29.2% | -5.2% |
| 2002 | 27.5% | -5.8% |
| 2003 | 26.7% | -2.7% |
| 2004 | 26.6% | -0.4% |
| 2005 | 26.3% | -1.1% |
| 2006 | 25.0% | -5.0% |
| 2007 | 24.2% | -3.1% |
| 2008 | 22.9% | -5.3% |
| 2009 | 23.1% | +0.7% |
| 2010 | 22.6% | -2.3% |
| 2011 | 22.0% | -2.4% |
| 2012 | 22.4% | +1.7% |
| 2013 | 22.6% | +1.0% |
| 2014 | 22.6% | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 23.3% | +3.0% |
| 2016 | 23.7% | +1.7% |
| 2017 | 23.6% | -0.5% |
| 2018 | 24.0% | +1.8% |
| 2019 | 23.7% | -1.2% |
| 2020 | 8.3% | -64.9% |
| 2021 | 10.2% | +22.8% |
| 2022 | 17.8% | +73.9% |
| 2023 | 22.0% | +23.7% |
| 2024 | 22.6% | +2.8% |
| 2025 | 22.4% | -0.8% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Travel services in North America 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | +73.9% | 10.2% | 17.8% |
| 2020 | -64.9% | 23.7% | 8.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 38.7% | 34.9% | 42.9% | 10 |
| 1980s | 38.0% | 33.7% | 42.4% | 10 |
| 1990s | 36.1% | 31.8% | 39.1% | 10 |
| 2000s | 26.2% | 22.9% | 30.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 23.0% | 22.0% | 24.0% | 10 |
| 2020s | 17.2% | 8.3% | 22.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near North America
- 16 Kuwait 44.5% compare
- 17 Syrian Arab Republic 43.9% compare
- 18 Qatar 42.7% compare
- 19 Australia 41.9% compare
- 20 Argentina 41.5% compare
- 21 Uzbekistan 41.4% compare
- 22 Guinea-Bissau 41.2% compare
More private sector data for North America
- Merchandise trade 20.6% (2025)
- Food imports 7.3% (2024)
- Manufactures imports 77.9% (2024)
- Merchandise imports 4.09 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 10.3% (2024)
- Manufactures exports 52.8% (2024)
- Merchandise exports 2.74 trillion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 7,145 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.0828 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 4.2 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is travel services in North America?
- Travel services in North America was 22.4% in 2025, according to Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest travel services recorded in North America?
- The highest recorded value was 42.9% in 1970.
- What is the lowest travel services recorded in North America?
- The lowest recorded value was 8.3% in 2020.
- How does North America rank for travel services?
- North America ranks 19th out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
- Is travel services rising or falling in North America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this North America 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
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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.