Tourism spending meets forecasts and exceeds 126 billion euros in 2024, some 16.1% more

The tourism sector in Spain ended 2024 in line with forecasts, both in terms of arrivals and revenues. The cumulative spending of international tourists between January and December amounted to 126.282 billion euros, 16.1% more than in the same period of the previous year, according to data published on 3 February by the National Statistics Institute (INE).

The number of visitors increased by 10.1% to 93.8 million tourists, a figure that also exceeds the historical accumulated figure for the twelve months of 2023, which was 85 million.

This continues the upwards trend in spending over and above tourist arrivals and, therefore, average spending.

Asia, the fastest growing market

In 2024, the main outbound tourism markets showed growth compared to the previous year. Once again this year, the United Kingdom was the leading source country for visitors, with 18.4 million and a 6.6% increase over the previous year. In terms of spending at destination, UK citizens spent more than 22.6 billion euros in Spain in 2024, 13.5% more than in 2023.

In second place, 12.9 million tourists arrived from France last year, a growth of 10.3% over 2023. Annual spending by French tourists amounted to 11.014 billion euros, 13.1% higher than the previous year.

Tourists from Germany grew 8.6% compared to 2023, to 11.9 million, who spent more than 15.5 billion euros in the 12-month accumulated period, which implies a 17.6% year-on-year increase.

Tourists from Asia experienced the highest growth, with a cumulative rate of change of +14.2% compared to the previous year. The United States is consolidating its position as a key source market with 4.2 million tourists (11.2% more).

Catalonia, leader in arrivals and spending

With regard to the autonomous communities of destination chosen by international tourists, Catalonia leads the way with more than 19.9 million visitors, 9.7% more than in 2023. This is followed by the Balearic Islands - with 15.3 million tourists and growth of 6.1% - and then the Canary Islands (15.2 million and an increase of 9.1%), Andalusia (13.5 million, up 11.5%) and the Valencian Community, which is the region with the highest year-on-year growth in 2024, up 14%, to more than 11.9 million. Madrid, for its part, received 8.8 million international tourists, which is 12.5% more than in the same period of the previous year. The rest of the communities grew by 10.6% compared to the previous year.

In terms of spending, the autonomous communities with the highest total spend in 2024 were Catalonia (with 23.745 billion, 11.8% more than in 2023), the Canary Islands (with 22.887 billion and an increase of 12.6%) and the Balearic Islands (with 20.052 billion, 13.3% more than in 2023).

Increased arrivals and spending also in December

In December alone, 5.3 million international tourists visited us, 1.1% more than in the same month last year. In addition, in this month, foreign visitors brought in 7.589 billion euros, reflecting a year-on-year growth of 7%.

In detail, and as has been the case throughout practically the whole of 2024, December tourism spending data has seen improvements in average spending per traveller and average daily spending, and remained practically unchanged in average stay. These are the main clues to assess the effectiveness of the tourism policies implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Tourism.

In December, each visitor spent an average of 1,441 euros, 5.9% more than last year, and spending per day also reflected this growth, reaching 159 euros, an increase of 6.4% year-on-year. The average length of stay was 9.1 days, slightly down (-0.5%) from a year ago.

Non official translation