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Tourism in Bangladesh

Bangladesh recorded a total of 323,000 tourists in 2019, ranking 148th in the world in absolute terms.

The fact that larger countries regularly perform better in a comparison of the absolute number of guests is obvious. By putting the tourist numbers in relation to the population of Bangladesh, the result is much more comparable picture: With 0.0019 tourists per resident, Bangladesh ranked 201st in the world. In South Asia, it ranked 8th.

In 2020, Bangladesh generated around 217.90 million US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 0.052 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 1 percent of all international tourism receipts in South Asia.

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Back to overview: Bangladesh



Development of the tourism sector in Bangladesh from 1995 to 2019

The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Bangladesh 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.

Tourists per year in Bangladesh

Revenues from tourism

In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 25.00 million USD, or about 0.066 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 156,000 tourists at that time and roughly 160 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 $391.00 million billion, 0.11 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $1,211 on their vacation in Bangladesh.

In 2020, tourist receipts plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the $391.00 million billion (2019), only $217.90 million billion remained. This is a 44 percent decrease in Bangladesh.

Tourism receipts in Bangladesh per year

All data for Bangladesh in detail

YearNumber of touristsReceipts% of GNPReceipts per tourist
2019323,000391.00 m $0.11 %1,211 $
2018267,000357.00 m $0.11 %1,337 $
2017237,000348.00 m $0.12 %1,468 $
2016182,000214.30 m $0.081 %1,177 $
2015126,000150.30 m $0.077 %1,193 $
2014134,000154.00 m $0.089 %1,149 $
2013104,000131.00 m $0.087 %1,260 $
2012160,000105.00 m $0.079 %656 $
2011157,00097.00 m $0.075 %618 $
2010139,000103.00 m $0.089 %741 $
2009267,00077.00 m $0.075 %288 $
2008467,00075.00 m $0.082 %161 $
2007289,00076.00 m $0.096 %263 $
2006200,00079.00 m $0.11 %395 $
2005208,00082.00 m $0.12 %394 $
2004271,00076.00 m $0.12 %280 $
2003245,00059.00 m $0.098 %241 $
2002207,00059.00 m $0.11 %285 $
2001207,00048.00 m $0.089 %232 $
2000199,00050.00 m $0.094 %251 $
1999173,00050.00 m $0.098 %289 $
1998172,00052.00 m $0.10 %302 $
1997182,00062.00 m $0.13 %341 $
1996166,00033.00 m $0.071 %199 $
1995156,00025.00 m $0.066 %160 $


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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