South Africa recorded a total of four million tourists in 2020, ranking 45th in the world in absolute terms.
Without including the size of a country, such a ranking list may not be very meaningful. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of South Africa, the result is much more comparable picture: With 0.065 tourists per resident, South Africa ranked 135th in the world. In Southern Africa, it ranked 5th.
In 2020, South Africa generated around 2.72 billion US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 0.65 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 88 percent of all international tourism receipts in Southern Africa.
The most popular city in South Africa for international travelers is Johannesburg. In 2019, it reached the 59th place of the world's most popular cities with 4.21 million tourists.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2020 spent about 591 US dollars.
Development of the tourism sector in South Africa from 1995 to 2020
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in South Africa 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 2.65 billion USD, or about 1.5 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 4.68 million tourists at that time and roughly 567 USD per person. Within 25 years, the country's dependence on tourism has increased noticeably. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales were $9.06 billion billion, 2.3 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $613 on their vacation in South Africa.
In 2020, tourist receipts plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the $9.06 billion billion (2019), only $2.72 billion billion remained. This is a 70 percent decrease in South Africa.
All data for South Africa in detail
Year
Number of tourists
Receipts
% of GNP
Receipts per tourist
2020
3.89 m
2.72 bn $
0.80 %
699 $
2019
14.80 m
9.06 bn $
2.3 %
613 $
2018
15.00 m
9.79 bn $
2.4 %
652 $
2017
14.98 m
9.71 bn $
2.5 %
648 $
2016
15.12 m
8.81 bn $
2.7 %
582 $
2015
13.95 m
9.14 bn $
2.6 %
655 $
2014
14.53 m
10.48 bn $
2.8 %
722 $
2013
14.32 m
10.47 bn $
2.6 %
731 $
2012
13.07 m
11.20 bn $
2.6 %
857 $
2011
12.10 m
10.71 bn $
2.3 %
885 $
2010
11.30 m
10.31 bn $
2.5 %
912 $
2009
9.53 m
8.68 bn $
2.6 %
911 $
2008
9.73 m
9.18 bn $
2.9 %
943 $
2007
9.21 m
10.23 bn $
3.1 %
1,111 $
2006
8.51 m
9.21 bn $
3.0 %
1,083 $
2005
7.52 m
8.63 bn $
3.0 %
1,148 $
2004
6.82 m
7.57 bn $
3.0 %
1,111 $
2003
6.64 m
6.67 bn $
3.4 %
1,005 $
2002
6.55 m
3.70 bn $
2.9 %
564 $
2001
5.91 m
3.26 bn $
2.4 %
551 $
2000
6.00 m
3.34 bn $
2.2 %
556 $
1999
6.03 m
3.41 bn $
2.2 %
565 $
1998
5.90 m
3.42 bn $
2.2 %
580 $
1997
5.17 m
3.42 bn $
2.0 %
662 $
1996
5.19 m
3.14 bn $
1.9 %
605 $
1995
4.68 m
2.65 bn $
1.5 %
567 $
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.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2020 spent about 591 US dollars. 
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