France recorded a total of 117 million tourists in 2020, ranking 1st 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 France, the result is much more comparable picture: With 1.7 tourists per resident, France ranked 31st in the world. In Western Europe, it ranked 2nd.
In 2020, France generated around 35.96 billion US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 1.2 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 43 percent of all international tourism receipts in Western Europe.
The most popular cities in France for international travelers are Paris and Nice. In 2019, Paris ranked 6th among the world's most popular cities with 19.09 million tourists. Nice was in 93rd place with 2.58 million tourists.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2020 spent about 260 US dollars. Conversely, the inhabitants of France spend as much as 1,239 dollars a year when they themselves spend vacations abroad.
Development of the tourism sector in France from 1995 to 2020
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in France 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 9 countries in Western Europe.
Revenues from tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 31.30 billion USD, or about 2.0 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 60.03 million tourists at that time and roughly 521 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 $70.78 billion billion, 2.6 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $325 on their vacation in France.
In 2020, tourist receipts plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the $70.78 billion billion (2019), only $35.96 billion billion remained. This is a 49 percent decrease in France.
All data for France in detail
Year
Number of tourists
Receipts
% of GNP
Receipts per tourist
2020
117.11 m
35.96 bn $
1.4 %
307 $
2019
217.88 m
70.78 bn $
2.6 %
325 $
2018
89.30 m
72.52 bn $
2.6 %
812 $
2017
86.86 m
67.72 bn $
2.6 %
780 $
2016
82.68 m
63.56 bn $
2.6 %
769 $
2015
84.45 m
66.44 bn $
2.7 %
787 $
2014
83.70 m
67.40 bn $
2.4 %
805 $
2013
83.63 m
66.05 bn $
2.3 %
790 $
2012
81.98 m
63.98 bn $
2.4 %
780 $
2011
80.50 m
66.13 bn $
2.3 %
822 $
2010
76.65 m
56.18 bn $
2.1 %
733 $
2009
76.76 m
58.91 bn $
2.2 %
767 $
2008
79.22 m
68.03 bn $
2.3 %
859 $
2007
80.85 m
63.89 bn $
2.4 %
790 $
2006
77.92 m
54.62 bn $
2.4 %
701 $
2005
74.99 m
52.13 bn $
2.4 %
695 $
2004
74.43 m
53.07 bn $
2.5 %
713 $
2003
75.05 m
46.58 bn $
2.5 %
621 $
2002
77.01 m
41.11 bn $
2.7 %
534 $
2001
75.20 m
37.83 bn $
2.7 %
503 $
2000
77.19 m
38.71 bn $
2.8 %
501 $
1999
73.15 m
44.55 bn $
3.0 %
609 $
1998
70.11 m
29.49 bn $
2.0 %
421 $
1997
66.59 m
27.40 bn $
1.9 %
411 $
1996
62.41 m
32.09 bn $
2.0 %
514 $
1995
60.03 m
31.30 bn $
2.0 %
521 $
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 260 US dollars. Conversely, the inhabitants of France spend as much as 1,239 dollars a year when they themselves spend vacations abroad.
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