3 July 2024

Total Expenditure Survey

May 2024. Provisional data

Main results

  • The total expenditure of international tourists who visited Spain in May increased by 19.7% and reached 11,687 million euros.
  • The average daily expenditure increased by 8.6% to 204 euros.

The total expenditure of international tourists visiting Spain in May reached 11,687 million euros, an increase of 19.7% compared to the same month in 2023.

The average expenditure per tourist was 1,263 euros, an annual increase of 7.3%. Meanwhile, the average daily expenditure increased by 8.6% to 204 euros.

Annual variation rate of total international tourist expenditure

Annual variation. Percentage

During the first five months of 2024, the total expenditure of international tourists increased by 21.8% and reached 43.2 billion euros.

Countries of origin

The main sending countries in terms of the level of expenditure in May were the United Kingdom (with 18.8% of the total), Germany (12.1%) and France (8.5%).

The expenditure of tourists resident in the United Kingdom increased by 16.2% at annual rate, that of those from Germany by 18.0% and that of those from France by 17.7%.

International tourists expenditure by country of residence. May 2024

During the first five months of 2024, the UK was the country with the highest cumulative expenditure (17.1% of the total). It was followed by Germany (13.0%) and France (7.8%).

Expenditure items

The expenditure on international transport (not included in package tours) was the main item in May, with 21.3% of total expenditure and an increase of 21.6% compared to the same month in 2023.

The following items were expenditure on activities and accommodation, with 20.2% and 17.6% of the total, respectively. The former increased by 17.3% and the latter by 22.6%.

International tourists expenditure by expenditure categories. May 2024

Type of accommodation, method of organization and reason for the trip

70.0% of the total expenditure in May was made by tourists who stayed overnight in hotels, with an annual increase of 20.9%. On the other hand, expenditure on non-market accommodation decreased by 2.5%.

Expenditure by tourists not travelling with a package tour increased by 21.1% in the annual rate. For those who contracted a package tour, it increased by 15.4%.

In terms of the reason for travel, tourists visiting Spain for leisure generated 84.2% of the total expenditure, with a 17.4% higher spend than in May 2023.

International tourists expenditure by main type of accommodation, type of organization and main purpose of the trip. May 2024

(*): It is distinguished two main groups of accommodation, depending on whether there was a monetary transaction or not: rented accommodation (payment accommodation: hotels, renting accommodation, camping site, rural accommodation and other rented accommodation) or non rented accommodation (owned dwelling, family or friends dwellings and other non rented accommodation).

Autonomous communities of main destination

The Autonomous Communities of main destination with the greatest proportion of tourist expenditure in May were Cataluña (with 19.9% of the total), Illes Balears (19.0%) and Comunidad de Madrid (15.1%). Tourist expenditure increased by 8.3% in annual rate in Cataluña, by 16.6% in Illes Balears and by 39.9% in Comunidad de Madrid.

International tourists expenditure by Autonomous Community main destination. May 2024

During the first five months of 2024, the communities with the highest cumulative expenditure were Canarias (with 22.3% of the total), Cataluña (18.0%) and Andalucía (15.1%).

Revisions and data updates

The data published today are provisional and will be revised in March next year. All results of this operation are available on INEBase.

Methodological note

The main objective of the Tourist Expenditure Survey (EGATUR) is to obtain monthly information on the tourist expenditure made by non-residents in Spain in their trips to our country. In preparing it, the international definitions and recommendations of the UNWTO and EUROSTAT in this field are followed.

Type of operation:
continuous monthly statistics.
Population scope:
this refers to non-residents in Spain who enter our country, whether or not they have stayed overnight, as well as those who pass through our country in transit.
Geographical scope:
the entire national territory. The sample is collected at the main access points for non-resident travelers (road, airport, port and rail).
Reference period of the results:
the month.
Sample size:
The theoretical annual sample size of EGATUR exceeds 127,000 surveys, which are distributed throughout the year according to the seasonality of the flow of passengers and to the sample design, which is defined for each access road independently, setting a fraction of the sub-sampling from the FRONTUR sample.
Type of sampling:
Single stage, where the estimates of the FRONTUR survey are used as the target population to which the EGATUR data are elevated.
Collection method:
the information is collected by direct interviews when the traveller leaves Spain, using a multilingual electronic questionnaire. It is important to note that the survey is administered to the visitors when they are leaving the country, so the information collected could refer to a longer period than the reference month.

For more information you can access the methodology and the standardized methodological report.

INE statistics are produced in accordance with the Code of Good Practice for European Statistics. More information in Quality at INE and the Code of Best Practices.

For further information see Inicio INEbase Official INE account on @es_ine
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