- The balance of travel services posted a surplus of €778.6 million in April 2025 and a surplus of €1,177.0 million in January-April 2025.
- Travel receipts rose by 17.4% in April 2025 and by 10.6% in January-April 2025.
- Inbound traveller flows increased by 6.4% in April 2025 and by 5.8% in January‑April 2025.
Balance of travel services
Based on provisional data, the balance of travel services in April 2025 showed a surplus of €778.6 million, up from a surplus of €666.0 million in April 2024. More specifically, in April 2025, travel receipts rose by 17.4% to €1,084.3 million, up from €923.7 million in April 2024, while travel payments also increased by 18.7% (April 2025: €305.8 million, April 2024: €257.7 million). The rise in travel receipts stemmed from both a 6.4% rise in inbound traveller flows and a 10.6% increase in average expenditure per trip. Net travel receipts offset 27.0% of the goods deficit and accounted for 77.8% of total net receipts from services.
In January-April 2025, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of €1,177.0 million, up from a surplus of €1,137.2 million in the same period of 2024. Travel receipts rose by €206.4 million, or 10.6%, to €2,157.1 million, while travel payments also increased by €166.6 million, or 20.5%, to €980.1 million. The rise in travel receipts was driven by a 5.8% increase in inbound traveller flows and a 4.4% rise in average expenditure per trip. Net travel receipts offset 10.3% of the goods deficit and contributed 60.1% to total net receipts from services.
Travel receipts
In April 2025, as mentioned previously, travel receipts grew by 17.4% year-on-year. In more detail, receipts from residents of the EU27 decreased by 3.9% to €505.7 million, whereas receipts from residents of other countries grew by 50.9% (April 2025: €514.3 million, April 2024: €340.9 million). The fall in receipts from within the EU27 was due to a decrease of 10.4% in receipts from euro area residents (April 2025: €427.3 million, April 2024: €476.9 million), as receipts from residents of non-euro area countries increased by 58.8% to €78.4 million.
More specifically, among major euro area countries of origin, receipts from Germany rose by 15.5% to €183.3 million. Receipts from France dropped by 20.3% to €78.2 million and receipts from Italy also fell by 44.5% to €33.7 million. Turning to other countries, receipts from the United Kingdom grew by 27.9% to €95.8 million, as did receipts from the United States, by 81.0% to €181.7 million. Receipts from Russia also grew to €0.4 million.
In January-April 2025, travel receipts totalled €2,157.1 million, up by 10.6% year-on-year. This development is mainly attributed to an increase of 26.0% in receipts from residents of other countries, which stood at €1,040.3 million, as receipts from residents of the EU27 decreased by 1.8% to €1,025.6 million. In greater detail, receipts from euro area residents fell by 5.7% to €861.5 million, while receipts from residents of non-euro area EU27 countries rose by 25.4% to €164.1 million.
Specifically, receipts from Germany increased by 0.8% to €297.1 million, whereas receipts from France dropped by 25.0% to €110.2 million and receipts from Italy fell by 6.6% to €110.3million. Turning to other countries, receipts from the United Kingdom grew by 23.4% to €167.8 million, receipts from the United States rose by 36.8% to €325.5 million and receipts from Russia increased to €2.5 million.
Inbound traveller flows
The number of inbound travellers in April 2025 rose by 6.4% year-on-year to 1,663.2 thousand. Specifically, traveller flows through airports increased by 6.8% year-on-year, while traveller flows through road border-crossing points grew by 6.1%. This overall increase was due to higher traveller flows from other countries (up by 34.9%), as traveller flows from EU27 countries decreased by 11.1%. In greater detail, the number of travellers from within the euro area dropped by 8.2% to 706.5 thousand, while the number of travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries declined by 22.4% to 155.5 thousand.
Specifically, the number of travellers from Germany dropped by 9.3% to 231.1 thousand, whereas travellers from France increased by 10.1% to 104.0 thousand. Travellers from Italy decreased by 39.9% to 70.7 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom increased by 41.1% to 127.1 thousand and the number of travellers from the United States rose by 43.5% to 150.8 thousand. The number of travellers from Russia stood at 0.9 thousand.
In January-April 2025, the number of inbound travellers rose by 5.8% to 4,122.2 thousand (January-April 2024: 3,896.0 thousand). Specifically, traveller flows through airports increased by 10.8%, whereas traveller flows through road border-crossing points declined by 3.9%. In the period under review, the number of travellers from within the EU27 fell by 5.4% year‑on‑year to 2,041.1 thousand. Βy contrast, the number of travellers from other countries grew by 19.7% to 2,081.2 thousand. Travellers from within the euro area increased by 3.2%, while travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries decreased by 27.9%.
Specifically, the number of travellers from Germany rose by 3.6% to 475.5 thousand, whereas the number of travellers from France fell by 22.6% to 164.6 thousand. Travellers from Italy also decreased by 11.0% to 198.3 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom rose by 41.5% to 294.6 thousand, as did the number of travellers from the United States, by 26.9% to 339.5 thousand. Lastly, the number of travellers from Russia rose to 2.8 thousand.
