Serbia recorded a total of 446,000 tourists in 2020, ranking 134th 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 Serbia, the result is much more comparable picture: With 0.065 tourists per resident, Serbia ranked 136th in the world. In Southern Europe, it ranked 12th.
In 2020, Serbia generated around 1.42 billion US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 2.3 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 3 percent of all international tourism receipts in Southern Europe.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2020 spent about 3,028 US dollars.
Development of the tourism sector in Serbia from 2002 to 2020
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Serbia 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.
Revenues from tourism
In 2002, tourism revenues amounted to 77.00 million USD, or about 0.45 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 312,000 tourists at that time and roughly 247 USD per person. Within 18 years, the country's dependence on tourism has increased drastically. Before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, sales were $2.00 billion billion, 3.9 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $1,083 on their vacation in Serbia.
In 2020, tourist receipts plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the $2.00 billion billion (2019), only $1.42 billion billion remained. This is a 29 percent decrease in Serbia.
All data for Serbia in detail
Year
Number of tourists
Receipts
% of GNP
Receipts per tourist
2020
446,000
1.42 bn $
2.7 %
3,188 $
2019
1.85 m
2.00 bn $
3.9 %
1,083 $
2018
1.71 m
1.94 bn $
3.8 %
1,134 $
2017
1.50 m
1.71 bn $
3.9 %
1,140 $
2016
1.28 m
1.46 bn $
3.6 %
1,141 $
2015
1.13 m
1.32 bn $
3.3 %
1,168 $
2014
1.03 m
1.35 bn $
2.9 %
1,314 $
2013
922,000
1.22 bn $
2.5 %
1,324 $
2012
810,000
1.08 bn $
2.5 %
1,333 $
2011
764,000
1.15 bn $
2.3 %
1,504 $
2010
683,000
950.00 m $
2.3 %
1,391 $
2009
645,000
986.00 m $
2.2 %
1,529 $
2008
646,000
1.11 bn $
2.1 %
1,724 $
2007
696,000
1.02 bn $
2.4 %
1,463 $
2006
469,000
416.00 m $
1.3 %
887 $
2005
453,000
308.00 m $
1.1 %
680 $
2004
392,000
220.00 m $
0.84 %
561 $
2003
339,000
159.00 m $
0.71 %
469 $
2002
312,000
77.00 m $
0.45 %
247 $
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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