Croatia recorded a total of 22 million tourists in 2020, ranking 12th 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 Croatia, the result is much more comparable picture: With 5.5 tourists per resident, Croatia ranked 12th in the world. In Southern Europe, it ranked 3rd.
In 2020, Croatia generated around 5.63 billion US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 8.2 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 12 percent of all international tourism receipts in Southern Europe.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2020 spent about 220 US dollars. Conversely, the inhabitants of Croatia spend as much as 985 dollars a year when they themselves spend vacations abroad.
Development of the tourism sector in Croatia from 1995 to 2020
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Croatia 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 14 countries in Southern Europe.
Revenues from tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 1.35 billion USD, or about 5.9 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 16.10 million tourists at that time and roughly 84 USD per person. Within 25 years, the country's dependence on tourism has increased drastically. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales were $11.97 billion billion, 19.21 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $199 on their vacation in Croatia.
In 2020, tourist receipts plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the $11.97 billion billion (2019), only $5.63 billion billion remained. This is a 53 percent decrease in Croatia.
All data for Croatia in detail
Year
Number of tourists
Receipts
% of GNP
Receipts per tourist
2020
21.61 m
5.63 bn $
9.8 %
261 $
2019
60.02 m
11.97 bn $
19.21 %
199 $
2018
57.67 m
11.35 bn $
18.21 %
197 $
2017
59.24 m
10.53 bn $
18.70 %
178 $
2016
57.59 m
9.22 bn $
17.59 %
160 $
2015
55.86 m
8.21 bn $
16.33 %
147 $
2014
51.17 m
10.08 bn $
17.28 %
197 $
2013
48.35 m
9.72 bn $
16.50 %
201 $
2012
47.19 m
8.91 bn $
15.58 %
189 $
2011
49.97 m
9.60 bn $
15.19 %
192 $
2010
49.01 m
8.30 bn $
13.73 %
169 $
2009
47.57 m
9.30 bn $
14.74 %
195 $
2008
51.34 m
11.62 bn $
16.42 %
226 $
2007
52.27 m
9.62 bn $
15.88 %
184 $
2006
47.73 m
8.30 bn $
16.31 %
174 $
2005
45.76 m
7.63 bn $
16.66 %
167 $
2004
44.97 m
6.95 bn $
16.55 %
154 $
2003
42.86 m
6.51 bn $
18.62 %
152 $
2002
41.74 m
3.95 bn $
14.60 %
95 $
2001
40.13 m
3.46 bn $
14.88 %
86 $
2000
37.23 m
2.87 bn $
13.15 %
77 $
1999
29.22 m
2.60 bn $
10.96 %
89 $
1998
25.50 m
2.73 bn $
10.60 %
107 $
1997
23.66 m
2.52 bn $
10.47 %
107 $
1996
19.09 m
2.01 bn $
8.4 %
106 $
1995
16.10 m
1.35 bn $
5.9 %
84 $
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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