Saudi Arabia now receives more tourists than it sends abroad
Overnight visitor arrivals into Saudi Arabia vs overnight trips abroad by its residents, millions, 2010–2024, UN Tourism.
- 1. Egypt is set to outgrow Japan in 2027, then Russia
- 2. In 2025, Suez Canal traffic was under half its record
- 3. Egypt exports more fresh oranges than any other country
- 4. Egypt is the world's biggest wheat buyer
- 5. Saudi Arabia has more desalination capacity than the entire US
- 6. Three in four UAE residents are international migrants
- 7. Only America draws more new foreign projects than the UAE
- 8. Algeria outspends all of sub-Saharan Africa on its military
- 9. Women in MENA now outpace men at university
- 10. Dubai's airport handles more international travellers than Heathrow
- 11. The UAE sold more goods abroad than France in 2025
- 12. Oil now makes less than a third of Saudi power
- 13. Egypt now owes Russia more than any other government
- 14. Two-thirds of young Jordanian women in the workforce are jobless
- 15. Baghdad's mobile internet overtook Erbil's
- 16. Morocco climbed to second in world fertiliser exports
- 17. Algiers now has North Africa's fastest home internet
- 18. Saudi imports from China now top the Group of Seven
- 19. Syria has lost more stored water than drought-famous Iran
- 20. Chicken gives Egyptians twice the calories beef does
- 21. More young Tunisian men than women neither work nor study
- 22. Egypt tripled its ATMs per adult in ten years
- 23. Saudi Arabia's battery imports grew 46-fold since 2019
- 24. Viet Nam overtook China as Morocco's top smartphone supplier
- 25. Iraq went from one city of a million to eight
- 26. Saudi Arabia now receives more tourists than it sends abroad
Overnight visitors arriving in Saudi Arabia in 2024, against overnight trips abroad by its residents.
The first year since 2010 that arrivals beat departures: 27.4 million in, 20.5 million out. In 2019 it was 17.5 million in, 19.0 million out.
Arrivals rose from 18.3 million in 2014 to 29.7 million in 2024, while trips abroad rose 21%: the kingdom is turning from a source of tourists into a destination.
the numbers & method
| Year | Arrivals into Saudi Arabia (M) | Trips abroad by residents (M) |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 10.9 | 17.8 |
| 2011 | 14.2 | 15.3 |
| 2012 | 16.3 | 18.7 |
| 2013 | 15.8 | 19.2 |
| 2014 | 18.3 | 19.8 |
| 2015 | 18.0 | 20.8 |
| 2016 | 18.0 | 21.2 |
| 2017 | 16.1 | 21.2 |
| 2018 | 15.3 | 19.8 |
| 2019 | 17.5 | 19.0 |
| 2020 | 4.1 | 4.8 |
| 2021 | 3.5 | 8.4 |
| 2022 | 16.6 | 16.9 |
| 2023 | 27.4 | 20.5 |
| 2024 | 29.7 | 24.0 |
Claim types Fact · Interpretation
UN Tourism, bulk data download 05/2026 (inbound: UN_Tourism_inbound_arrivals_12_2025.xlsx, total arrivals, overnight visitors (tourists); outbound: UN_Tourism_outbound_departures_12_2025.xlsx, total departures, overnight visitors (tourists)), as reported to UN Tourism by Saudi Arabia, read from the UN Tourism file via the progrss vault (dataset rows with URL, edition and retrieval date; UN Tourism has 6 value-check matches and no mismatches). Arrivals count overnight visitor trips into the country by non-residents (each arrival is a trip, not a person) and include visitors for religious purposes (Umrah and Hajj); departures count overnight trips abroad by residents, Saudi nationals and foreign residents alike. Same-day visitors are excluded from both. Values, millions, inbound then outbound: 2010 10.85 / 17.83; 2014 18.26 / 19.82; 2019 17.53 / 19.01; 2020 4.14 / 4.84; 2021 3.48 / 8.42; 2022 16.64 / 16.88; 2023 27.42 / 20.54; 2024 29.73 / 23.96 (rounded from thousands). Arrivals beat departures in no year from 2010 to 2022, and in both 2023 and 2024 (2024 is UN Tourism's latest year). UN Tourism's outbound series jumps from 6.0 million in 2009 to 17.8 million in 2010, an apparent method break; on the earlier basis arrivals exceeded departures in 2003–2009, so the chart starts in 2010. About half of arrivals are religious visitors (48% in 2025, Saudi Ministry of Tourism, Annual Statistical Report 2025). Saudi Arabia began issuing tourist visas in September 2019; 2020-2022 are COVID years and are neither the base nor the end of the comparison. UN Tourism data are not licensed for commercial use: shown on plates only, not in licensed packs. The third takeaway's last clause is Interpretation.
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