Ukraine recorded a total of three million tourists in 2020, ranking 51st 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 Ukraine, the result is much more comparable picture: With 0.077 tourists per resident, Ukraine ranked 130th in the world. In Eastern Europe, it ranked 8th.
In 2020, Ukraine generated around 687.00 million US dollars in the tourism sector alone. This corresponds to 0.34 percent of its the gross domestic product and approximately 2 percent of all international tourism receipts in Eastern Europe.
The most popular city in Ukraine for international travelers is Kiev. In 2021, it reached the 82nd place of the world's most popular cities.
On average, each of the tourists arriving in 2020 spent about 193 US dollars. Conversely, the inhabitants of Ukraine spend as much as 407 dollars a year when they themselves spend vacations abroad.
Development of the tourism sector in Ukraine from 1995 to 2020
The following chart shows the number of tourist arrivals registered in Ukraine 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 10 countries in Eastern Europe.
Revenues from tourism
In 1995, tourism revenues amounted to 191.00 million USD, or about 0.40 percent of the gross national product. This corresponded to about 6.13 million tourists at that time and roughly 31 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 $2.60 billion billion, 1.7 percent of gross national product. Thus, each visitor spent an average of $189 on their vacation in Ukraine.
In 2020, tourist receipts plummeted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the $2.60 billion billion (2019), only $687.00 million billion remained. This is a 74 percent decrease in Ukraine.
All data for Ukraine in detail
Year
Number of tourists
Receipts
% of GNP
Receipts per tourist
2020
3.38 m
687.00 m $
0.44 %
203 $
2019
13.71 m
2.60 bn $
1.7 %
189 $
2018
14.34 m
2.27 bn $
1.7 %
158 $
2017
14.58 m
2.02 bn $
1.8 %
138 $
2016
13.73 m
1.72 bn $
1.8 %
125 $
2015
13.03 m
1.66 bn $
1.8 %
128 $
2014
13.23 m
2.26 bn $
1.7 %
171 $
2013
26.03 m
5.93 bn $
3.1 %
228 $
2012
25.06 m
5.99 bn $
3.3 %
239 $
2011
24.54 m
5.41 bn $
3.2 %
220 $
2010
24.11 m
4.70 bn $
3.3 %
195 $
2009
24.03 m
4.35 bn $
3.6 %
181 $
2008
28.83 m
6.72 bn $
3.6 %
233 $
2007
26.16 m
5.32 bn $
3.6 %
203 $
2006
21.71 m
4.02 bn $
3.6 %
185 $
2005
20.49 m
3.54 bn $
4.0 %
173 $
2004
18.58 m
2.93 bn $
4.4 %
158 $
2003
15.16 m
1.20 bn $
2.3 %
79 $
2002
12.79 m
1.00 bn $
2.3 %
78 $
2001
11.88 m
759.00 m $
1.9 %
64 $
2000
11.69 m
563.00 m $
1.7 %
48 $
1999
10.99 m
503.00 m $
1.6 %
46 $
1998
12.00 m
539.00 m $
1.3 %
45 $
1997
14.74 m
477.00 m $
0.95 %
32 $
1996
6.75 m
448.00 m $
1.0 %
66 $
1995
6.13 m
191.00 m $
0.40 %
31 $
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.