The balance of travel services showed a surplus of 3.884.7 billion euros ins July, up from a surplus of 3.409.6 billion in July 2022, with travel receipts up by 15.1% to 4.146.2 billion euros, from 3.601.7 billion in July 2022, the Bank of Greece said on Thursday.
The central bank said that travel payments also increased by 36.1% (July 2023: 261.4 million, July 2022: 192.1 million). The rise in travel receipts was due to a 15.8% increase in inbound traveller flows, as average expenditure per trip declined by 0.6%. Net receipts from travel services accounted for 90.3% of total net receipts from services and more than offset (148.2%) the goods deficit.
In the January-July period, the balance of travel services showed a surplus of 8.941.5 billion euros, up from a surplus of 7.521.9 billion in the same period of 2022. Travel receipts rose by 1.736.5 billion, or 20.2%, to 10.321.1 billion, while travel payments increased by 316.8 million, or 29.8%, to 1.379.6 billion. The rise in travel receipts stemmed from a 21.9% increase in inbound traveller flows, as average expenditure per trip fell by 1.8%. Net travel receipts offset 49.7% of the goods deficit and contributed 81.7% to total net receipts from services.
In more detail, in July receipts from residents of the EU27 increased by 11.3% to 2.291.9 billion, while receipts from outside the EU27 rose by 20.3% (July 2023: 1.779.8 billion, July 2022: 1.479.5 billion). More specifically, among major euro area countries of origin, receipts from Germany grew by 2.1% to 581.4 million and receipts from France increased by 14.9% to 322.0 million. Turning to non-EU27 countries, receipts from the United Kingdom rose by 17.3% to 764.3 million, while receipts from the United States increased by 0.9% to 214.4 million. Receipts from Russia also increased, by 40.9% to 6.3 million.
In the eight-month period, travel receipts totalled 10.321.1 billion, up by 20.2% relative to the same period of 2022. This development was due to increases in receipts from residents of the EU27 by 14.7% to 5.648.8 billion and in receipts from residents outside the EU27 by 27.0% to 4.403.4 billion. I
The number of inbound travellers in July rose by 15.8% year-on-year to 6,108.6 thousand. Specifically, traveller flows through airports increased by 9.0% compared with July 2022, and traveller flows through road border-crossing points rose by 36.2%. This overall increase was driven by higher traveller flows from both within the EU27 (up by 18.7%) and outside the EU27 (up by 11.0%). In greater detail, the number of travellers from within the euro area grew by 12.0% to 2,293.8 thousand. Travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries also increased by 29.9% to 1,589.6 thousand. Specifically, the number of travellers from Germany increased by 16.1% to 746.4 thousand, as did the number of travellers from France, by 0.5% to 372.5 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, the number of travellers from the United Kingdom dropped by 1.4% to 802.0 thousand, whereas travellers from the United States increased by 10.6% to 209.1 thousand. Finally, the number of travellers from Russia rose by 58.1% to 6.3 thousand.
In the January-July the number of inbound travellers rose by 21.9% to 16,170.4 thousand (January-July 2022: 13,260.6 thousand). Specifically, traveller flows through airports grew by 15.5%, while traveller flows through road border-crossing points increased by 45.0%. In the period under review, the number of travellers from within the EU27 rose by 20.5% year-on-year to 9,719.9 thousand, while travellers from outside the EU27 increased by 24.1% to 6,450.5 thousand. The number of travellers from within the euro area rose by 14.1%, while travellers from non-euro area EU27 countries increased by 35.3%. Specifically, the number of travellers from Germany rose by 11.4% to 2,301.7 thousand and the number of travellers from France increased by 12.4% to 1,012.4 thousand. Turning to non-EU27 countries, travellers from the United Kingdom rose by 3.2% to 2,096.3 thousand and travellers from the United States increased by 43.5% to 737.4 thousand. Finally, the number of travellers from Russia fell by 1.8% to 19.6 thousand.
