Travel Trends 2023

Product Description

Annual estimates of completed international visits to and from the UK and earnings and expenditure associated with these visits.

Main points

• Overseas residents made 38.0 million visits to the UK in 2023; this was higher than in 2022 (31.2 million).
• Overseas residents spent £31.1 billion on their visits to the UK in 2023; this was an increase of £4.6 billion compared with visits in 2022.
• UK residents made 86.2 million visits abroad in 2023; this compares with total visits of 71.0 million in 2022.
• UK residents spent £72.4 billion on visits abroad in 2023; this was £13.9 billion more than in 2022.
• Holidays were the most popular reason for visits to London by overseas residents (53%); whereas the majority of other regions in the UK had more overseas residents visiting to see friends or relatives.
• UK residents visited Spain the most in 2023, accounting for 21% of all visits abroad; this was followed by France (11%), Italy (6%) and Greece (5%).
• Overseas residents’ visits to the UK and UK residents’ visits abroad remain lower than pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic levels from 2019; however, spending was higher in 2023 than in 2019 for both groups.

Estimates provided for 2021 and the start of 2022 should be treated with caution as the numbers are smaller than pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic years. From 2021 onwards, no estimates are included for any travel across the Irish border.