Bank of Greece: Explosive increase of travel receipts by 1,000% in April

The balance of travel services posted a surplus of €432.1 million in April 2022 and a surplus of €633.0 million in January-April 2022

Balance of travel services
Based on provisional data, the balance of travel services in April 2022 posted a surplus of €432.1 million, up from a surplus of €3.2 million in April 2021. More specifically, travel receipts in April 2022 rose by 1,000.4% to €647.0 million, from €58.8 million in April 2021, while travel payments also increased by 286.1% (April 2022: €214.8 million, April 2021: €55.6 million). The rise in travel receipts stemmed from an 884.3% increase in inbound traveller flows and a 7.7% rise in average expenditure per trip. Net receipts from travel services offset 14.7% of the goods deficit and contributed 53.0% to total net receipts from services.

In January-April 2022, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €633.0 million, up from a surplus of €18.4 million in the same period of 2021. Travel receipts rose by €951.7 million or 576.7% to €1,116.7 million, while travel payments increased by €337.1 million or 230.0% to €483.7 million. The rise in travel receipts is attributed to a 462.7% increase in inbound traveller flows, as well as to a rise of 17.1% in average expenditure per trip. Net receipts from travel services offset 5.4% of the goods deficit and contributed 33.3% to total net receipts from services.

Travel receipts
In April 2022, travel receipts rose by 1,000.4% year-on-year. In more detail, receipts from residents of EU27 countries increased by 822.0% to €344.8 million, while receipts from outside the EU27 rose by 1,200.8% (April 2022: €278.3 million, April 2021: €21.4 million). The rise in receipts from within the EU27 is attributed to increases in receipts from euro area residents by 842.6% to €310.4 million (April 2021: €32.9 million) and in receipts from residents of non-euro area EU27 countries by 669.5% to €34.4 million.

More specifically, among major euro area countries of origin, receipts from Germany rose by 951.3% to €111.7 million and receipts from France increased by 1,530.6% to €75.4 million. Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom rose considerably to €80.9 million as well as receipts from the United States to €33.0 million. Receipts from Russia also increased, by 77.4% to €2.0 million.

In January-April 2022, travel receipts totalled €1,116.7 million, up by 576.7% relative to the same period of 2021. This development was due to increases in receipts from residents of the EU27 by 472.1% to €582.2 million and in receipts from residents outside the EU27 by 698.0% to €504.6 million. In greater detail, receipts from euro area residents rose by 514.7% to €495.4 million, while receipts from residents of non-euro area EU27 countries increased by 310.1% to €86.9 million.

In particular, receipts from Germany increased by 533.7% to €177.7 million and receipts from France increased by 1,113.4% to €99.0 million. Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom rose by 1,229.8% to €128.0 million, while receipts from the United States increased by 2,098.1% to €67.4 million. Receipts from Russia also increased, by 503.0% to €7.8 million.

Inbound traveller flows
The number of inbound travellers in April 2022 rose by 884.3% year-on-year to 1,056.0 thousand. Specifically, traveller flows through airports increased by 1,494.3% year-on-year as did traveller flows through road border-crossing points, by 427.5%. This overall increase was due to higher traveller flows from both within the EU27 (up by 874.7%) and outside the EU27 (up by 897.4%). In greater detail, the number of travellers from within the euro area rose by 1,012.4% to 471.7 thousand, while travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries increased by 571.9% to 129.7 thousand.

Specifically, the number of travellers from Germany increased by 1,113.0% to 149.9 thousand and travellers from France increased by 2,434.1% to 92.4 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom rose considerably to 123.3 thousand, as did  the number of travellers from the United States to 41.6 thousand; travellers from Russia also increased by 566.8% to 2.9 thousand.

In January-April 2022, the number of inbound travellers rose by 462.7% to 2,128.7 thousand (January-April 2021: 378.3 thousand). Specifically, traveller flows through airports increased by 774.4%, as did traveller flows through road border-crossing points, by 258.1%. In the period under review, the number of travellers from within the EU27 rose by 440.4% year-on-year to 1,193.7 thousand, while travellers from outside the EU27 increased by 493.9% to 935.0 thousand. The number of travellers from within the euro area rose by 558.6% and the number of travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries increased by 253.0%.

Specifically, travellers from Germany increased by 507.9% to 301.3 thousand and travellers from France increased by 1,102.9% to 146.1 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom rose by 1,048.0% to 214.9 thousand, while the number of travellers from the United States increased considerably to 79.3 thousand and from Russia by 1,050.7% to 11.6 thousand.

Comparison with 2019, the last year before the pandemic
In April 2022, compared with April 2019, travel receipts rose by 19.0%. Average expenditure per trip also increased, as did inbound tourist flows, by 15.0% and 7.5%, respectively.

In January-April 2022, compared with January-April 2019, travel receipts declined by 13.4%. Average expenditure per trip increased by 20.3% and inbound tourist flows decreased by 27.1%.