Namibia recorded a total of 187,100 tourists in 2020, ranking 159th in the world in absolute terms.
That smaller countries regularly perform lower in a comparison of the absolute number of guests, is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Namibia, the result is much more comparable picture: With 0.074 tourists per resident, Namibia ranked 132nd in the world. In Southern Africa, it ranked 4th.
In 2020, Namibia generated around 155.00 million US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 1.3 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 5 percent of all international tourism receipts in Southern Africa.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2020 spent about 700 US dollars.
Development of the tourism sector in Namibia from 1995 to 2020
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Namibia each year. Anyone who spends at least one night in the country but does not live there for more than 12 months is considered a tourist. Insofar as the survey included the purpose of the trip, business trips and other non-tourism travel purposes have already been excluded. The number of people passing through within the same day, and e.g., crew members of ships or flights are also not considered tourists in most countries. If the same person travels in and out more than once within the same year, each visit counts again.
Data in the chart are given in millions of tourists. The red line represents the average of all 5 countries in Southern Africa.
Revenues from tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 278.00 million USD, or about 7.0 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 421,000 tourists at that time and roughly 660 USD per person. Within 25 years, the country's dependence on tourism has decreased substantially. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales were $451.00 million billion, 3.6 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $273 on their vacation in Namibia.
In 2020, tourist receipts plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the $451.00 million billion (2019), only $155.00 million billion remained. This is a 66 percent decrease in Namibia.
All data for Namibia in detail
Year
Number of tourists
Receipts
% of GNP
Receipts per tourist
2020
187,100.01
155.00 m $
1.5 %
828 $
2019
1.65 m
451.00 m $
3.6 %
273 $
2018
1.64 m
488.00 m $
3.6 %
298 $
2017
1.58 m
449.00 m $
3.5 %
284 $
2016
1.55 m
295.00 m $
2.8 %
190 $
2015
1.49 m
540.00 m $
4.8 %
363 $
2014
1.43 m
552.00 m $
4.4 %
386 $
2013
1.33 m
357.00 m $
3.0 %
269 $
2012
1.25 m
416.00 m $
3.2 %
334 $
2011
1.16 m
516.00 m $
4.1 %
444 $
2010
1.11 m
471.00 m $
4.1 %
423 $
2009
1.10 m
507.00 m $
5.7 %
461 $
2008
1.08 m
485.00 m $
5.6 %
449 $
2007
1.05 m
541.00 m $
6.1 %
516 $
2006
961,000
474.00 m $
5.9 %
493 $
2005
856,000
362.00 m $
5.0 %
423 $
2004
986,000
426.00 m $
6.4 %
432 $
2003
739,000
383.00 m $
7.8 %
518 $
2002
799,000
244.00 m $
7.3 %
305 $
2001
700,000
250.00 m $
7.0 %
357 $
2000
759,000
145.00 m $
3.7 %
191 $
1999
694,000
287.00 m $
7.4 %
414 $
1998
681,000
288.00 m $
7.4 %
423 $
1997
610,000
333.00 m $
8.0 %
546 $
1996
560,000
293.00 m $
7.3 %
523 $
1995
421,000
278.00 m $
7.0 %
660 $
Our data on tourist numbers, revenues and expenditures are based on information from the World Tourism Organization. However, to ensure international comparability, the data for some years or countries were manually researched and corrected if they obviously included visitors without overnight stays. In these cases, the data were taken from the official communications of the respective national tourism authorities.
The World Tourism Organization additionally points out that in some countries, the number of tourists is only counted at airports, while in others they are also counted at border crossings or even hotels. A comprehensive and reliable indication is therefore hardly possible in any country.
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