The Bank of Greece has reported a significant increase in Greece’s balance of travel services surplus for the first five months of 2019. The report revealed remittances up 14.4 percent, compared to the same period in 2018. In addition, the report, the surplus reached 1.726 billion euros, up from 1.598 billion euros in the corresponding period of 2018.
Based on provisional data by the Bank of Greece, the balance of travel services in May 2019 showed a surplus of €1,361 million, compared with a surplus of €1,262 million in May 2018. More specifically, travel receipts in Μay 2019 rose by 9.3% to €1,605 million, from €1,468 million in May 2018, while travel payments also increased by 18.4% (May 2019: €244 million, May 2018: €206 million). The rise in travel receipts reflected a 12.2% increase in average expenditure per trip, as inbound traveler flows decreased by 2.6%. Net receipts from travel services offset 59.1% of the goods deficit and accounted for 74.9% of total net receipts from services.
In January-May 2019, Bank of Greece’s balance of travel services showed a surplus of €1,726 million, up from a surplus of €1,598 million in the same period of 2018. This development is attributed to an increase, of 14.4% or €364 million, in travel receipts, which were only partly offset by travel payments, up by 25.5% or €236 million. The rise in travel receipts is attributed to a 15.4% increase in average expenditure per trip, as inbound traveler flows fell slightly, by 0.9%. Net receipts from travel services offset 17.2% of the goods deficit and accounted for 43.6% of total net receipts from services.
Travel Receipts
In May 2019, as mentioned previously, travel receipts rose by 9.3% year-on-year. In more detail, receipts from residents of the EU28 increased by 3.3% to €1,122 million, whereas receipts from outside the EU28 rose by 29.1% (May 2019: €425 million, May 2018: €329 million). The higher receipts from within the EU28 were due to increases of 4.4% in receipts from euro area residents (May 2019: €756 million, May 2018: €725 million) and of 1.1% in receipts from residents of non-euro area EU28 countries to €366 million. More specifically, among major countries of origin, receipts from Germany decreased by 8.2% to €357 million, whereas receipts from France increased by 30.6% to €110 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom also increased by 8.8% to €251 million. Turning to non-EU28 countries, receipts from the United States rose by 45.6% to €146 million, while receipts from Russia fell by 26.1% to €18 million.
In January-May 2019, travel receipts increased by 14.4%, relative to the same period of 2018, to €2,889 million. This development was driven by a 5.5% increase in receipts from residents of the EU28, which came to €1,820 million, and by a 36.1% rise in receipts from residents outside the EU28 to €968 million. In particular, receipts from euro area residents increased by 6.0% to €1,230 million, while receipts from residents of non-euro area EU28 countries rose by 4.5% to €590 million. Specifically, receipts from Germany dropped by 10.3% to €493 million, while receipts from France rose by 15.6% to €178 million. Receipts from the United Kingdom rose by 15.9% to €362 million. Turning to non-EU28 countries, receipts from the United States increased by 50.7% to €255 million, while receipts from Russia fell by 6.2% to €37 million.
Inbound Traveler Flows
The number of inbound visitors in May 2019 fell by 2.6% year-on-year to 2,387 thousand. Specifically, visitor flows through airports increased by 0.7%, whereas visitor flows through road border-crossing points declined by 16.6%. This decrease inflows was due to lower visitor flows from within the EU28 (down by 8.2%), as visitor flows from outside the EU28 rose by 17.7%. In greater detail, visitors from the euro area decreased by 8.4% to 1,072 thousand, while visitors from the non-euro area EU28 countries declined by 7.9% (May 2019: 688 thousand, May 2018: 746 thousand). Specifically, the number of visitors from Germany decreased by 13.6% to 477 thousand and visitors from France also decreased by 3.5% to 167 thousand. Visitors from the United Kingdom increased by 17.0% to 348 thousand. Turning to non-EU28 countries, visitors from the United States increased by 73.5% to 132 thousand and visitors from Russia increased by 10.7% to 26 thousand.
In January-May 2019, the number of inbound visitors declined by 0.9% to 5,305 thousand (January-May 2018: 5,352 thousand). Specifically, visitor flows through airports increased by 5.3%, whereas visitor flows through road border-crossing points declined by 14.4%. In the period under review, the number of visitors from within the EU28 decreased by 7.6% year-on-year to 3,433 thousand, while the number of visitors from outside the EU28 increased by 14.4% to 1,872 thousand. Visitors from within the euro area declined by 4.9% and visitors from the non-euro area EU28 countries fell by 11.0%. Specifically, the number of visitors from Germany decreased by 14.3% to 761 thousand, while visitors from France increased by 5.5% to 288 thousand. Visitors from the United Kingdom also rose by 15.6% to 555 thousand. Finally, turning to non-EU28 countries, the number of visitors from the United States increased by 45.5% to 287 thousand, while visitors from Russia rose by 27.4% to 68 thousand.
Source: Tornos News