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Foreign tourists. By country of residence

Foreign tourists. By country of residence Catalonia. December, 2024 (p)
Year-over-year variation
Value % over total Absolute % month % accumulated
Total 1,073.4 100.0 53.3 5.2 9.7
Germany 66.1 6.2 9.6 17.0 10.4
Belgium 22.2 2.1 -0.4 -2.0 13.8
France 254.8 23.7 -5.2 -2.0 4.8
Ireland 11.8 (*) Estimate with high variability 1.1 0.1 (*) Estimate with high variability 0.9 (*) Estimate with high variability 10.3 (*) Estimate with high variability
Italy 89.8 8.4 -1.2 -1.3 21.2
Netherlands 39.0 3.6 14.3 57.8 4.2
Nordic countries 19.4 1.8 -2.3 -10.6 -5.3
Portugal 23.4 2.2 12.2 109.0 -11.5
United Kingdom 71.5 6.7 10.8 17.8 5.2
Russia 16.4 (*) Estimate with high variability 1.5 9.4 (*) Estimate with high variability 132.3 (*) Estimate with high variability 22.3 (*) Estimate with high variability
Switzerland 31.2 2.9 21.9 236.1 23.5
Rest of Europe 159.0 14.8 -15.7 -9.0 2.6
United States 64.5 6.0 -6.6 -9.3 17.8
Rest of America 71.9 6.7 13.3 22.8 13.8
Rest of the world 132.6 12.4 -6.8 -4.9 19.6
Units: Thousands.
Source: Idescat, based on data of the INE's Tourist Movement on Borders Survey and Tourist Expenditure Survey.
(p) Provisional data.
(*) Estimate with high variability.
Foreign tourists. By country of residence Spain. December, 2024 (p)
Year-over-year variation
Value % over total Absolute % month % accumulated
Total 5,265.9 100.0 56.9 1.1 10.1
Germany 625.2 11.9 63.8 11.4 8.6
Belgium 170.8 3.2 0.6 0.4 11.1
France 775.3 14.7 -43.6 -5.3 10.3
Ireland 144.7 2.7 20.2 16.2 12.0
Italy 376.0 7.1 22.8 6.5 12.1
Netherlands 227.5 4.3 21.9 10.7 10.7
Nordic countries 356.4 6.8 13.5 3.9 7.3
Portugal 225.5 4.3 -9.4 -4.0 6.6
United Kingdom 900.8 17.1 -11.8 -1.3 6.6
Russia .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available .. Confidential data, low reliability or not available
Switzerland 104.1 2.0 -9.6 -8.4 5.8
Rest of Europe 513.3 9.7 -8.9 -1.7 15.4
United States 214.8 4.1 -4.2 -1.9 11.2
Rest of America 304.6 5.8 8.8 3.0 11.4
Rest of the world 326.9 6.2 -7.3 -2.2 17.9
Units: Thousands.
Source: INE. Tourist Movement on Borders Survey.
(p) Provisional data.
(..) Confidential data, low reliability or not available.

Last update: February 3, 2025. Next update: March 4, 2025 Calendari

Methodological note

Foreign Tourism in Catalonia involves data processed by Idescat based on the Survey of Tourist Movement on Borders (Frontur) and Survey of Tourist Expenditure (Egatur) from the INE.

Its goal is to measure, on a monthly basis, the number of visitors living abroad, in accordance with access routes and type of visitor, and reveal the main attributes of said trips.

This statistic encompasses the trips taken by international tourists and excursionistsaccording to the country where they normally reside(that is, the trips taken by travellers whose usual country of residence is outside Spain, regardless of their nationality).

Tourists are those people who travel to a main destination outside their usual environment, involving at least one overnight stay, for a duration of less than one year and when the main reason for the visit (including business, leisure and other personal reasons) is not connected with a job in a company established in the location visited.

Excursionists are those people who travel to a main destination outside their usual environment, involving no overnight stay. Said visits must meet the following characteristics:

  • The point of departure must be the person's usual environment.
  • The visit cannot be part of the person's daily routine.
  • It must have a duration of at least three hours.
  • Its frequency must be less than once per week.

Up until the third quarter of 2015, the Spanish Institute of Tourism was in charge of producing the Survey of Tourist Movement on Borders (Frontur) and the Survey of Tourist Expenditure (Egatur). Starting in the last quarter of 2015, the body in charge of said operations is the INE. Said shift of responsibilities also entailed a change in the design and methodology of the surveys, which means the data will not be entirely comparable to previous series.

You can get more information about these statistics in the methodology.