What is the average spend on holidays abroad?

We want our holidays to be as relaxing as possible and not worry about spending while we are there. With many of us using our cards rather than carrying cash, you might even look for a debit card or credit card with no fees abroad! But what is the average person planning to spend on holidays abroad this year?

Quick overview

- The average spend on holidays abroad per person in 2023 is projected to be £2,115.
- The total spent by Brits abroad in 2022 was £58.5 billion, including £40.1 billion on holidays.
- Brits spend the most abroad in Spain, with a total spend of £11 billion in 2022.
- This is followed by the USA, with a total spend of £5.1 billion in 2022.
- Barbados has the highest average daily spend for Brits abroad at an impressive £231.
- Meanwhile, people visiting India can enjoy a very affordable daily spend of just £31.

What is the average spend on holidays abroad per year?

In 2023, the average UK resident is planning to spend £2,115 on holidays abroad in total, including accommodation, flights and spending money. Our survey found that two-thirds (66%) of adults are planning to spend some money on holidays abroad in 2023.

Despite the ongoing cost of living crisis, this has increased from 2022 when the estimated spend per person on holidays abroad was £1,425. This is based on a June 2022 survey which found that 53% of UK adults were planning to travel abroad for leisure in the next 12 months.

What is the average cost of a holiday abroad?

The average cost of a single trip abroad was £857 in 2022, considering that Brits spent £40.1 billion abroad in 2022 and there were 46.8 million trips taken.

How much do Brits spend on holidays?

UK residents spent £40.1 billion in total on holidays abroad in 2022. This was far higher than 2020 and 2021, which were still seeing the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, but not as much as 2019, where residents spent £43.3 billion on holidays abroad.

The total spent by Brits abroad in 2022 was £58.5 billion. Other categories for spending abroad include visiting family and friends, where Brits spent £11.2 billion in 2022, and business travel, where Brits spent £5.1 billion in 2022.

Chart
Table

Year	Holiday	Business	Visit friends or family	Miscellaneous
2012	£25.3 billion	£6 billion	£5.8 billion	£1.4 billion
2013	£27.3 billion	£5.9 billion	£6.5 billion	£1.6 billion
2014	£28.9 billion	£5.8 billion	£6.9 billion	£1.4 billion
2015	£30.5 billion	£7.4 billion	£7 billion	£1.6 billion
2016	£34.2 billion	£6.6 billion	£8.1 billion	£1.8 billion
2017	£36.9 billion	£6.5 billion	£9.4 billion	£1.6 billion
2018	£39.7 billion	£6.9 billion	£9.8 billion	£1.8 billion
2019	£43.3 billion	£6.2 billion	£10.5 billion	£2.2 billion
2020	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
2021	£7.9 billion	£1.5 billion	£5.2 billion	£0.9 billion
2022	£40.1 billion	£5.1 billion	£11.2 billion	£2 billion

Brits spend the most money abroad in other European countries, with a total spend of £38.2 billion in 2023. North America is another popular destination, with Brits spending £6 billion here and £14.2 billion around the rest of the world in 2023.

Chart
Table

Year	North America	Europe	Other countries	Total
2012	£4.7 billion	£23.1 billion	£10.6 billion	£38.5 billion
2013	£4.9 billion	£24.8 billion	£11.7 billion	£41.4 billion
2014	£5.5 billion	£25.3 billion	£12.2 billion	£43 billion
2015	£6.2 billion	£28 billion	£12.3 billion	£46.5 billion
2016	£6.5 billion	£30.8 billion	£13.5 billion	£50.9 billion
2017	£6.4 billion	£33.6 billion	£14.5 billion	£54.4 billion
2018	£6.9 billion	£36.1 billion	£15.1 billion	£58.1 billion
2019	£6.6 billion	£38.7 billion	£16.9 billion	£62.3 billion
2020	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported	£13.8 billion
2021	£0.7 billion	£11.6 billion	£3.2 billion	£15.5 billion
2022	£6 billion	£38.2 billion	£14.2 billion	£58.5 billion

Where do Brits spend the most money abroad?

Spain was the most popular country for spending abroad in 2022, with UK residents spending a whopping total of £11 billion here. In the rest of Europe, France came a close second with £4.9 billion in spending, followed by Greece (£3.3 billion), Italy (£2.8 billion) and Portugal (£2.5 billion).

Chart
Table

Year	Spain	France	Greece	Italy	Portugal
2017	£9.6 billion	£4.8 billion	£1.9 billion	£2.8 billion	£1.8 billion
2018	£10.1 billion	£5.4 billion	£2.1 billion	£3.2 billion	£1.8 billion
2019	£10.9 billion	£5.2 billion	£2.3 billion	£3 billion	£2 billion
2020	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported	Not reported
2021	£3.2 billion	£1 billion	£1.1 billion	£0.6 billion	£0.8 billion
2022	£11 billion	£4.9 billion	£3.3 billion	£2.8 billion	£2.5 billion

Brits are also spending money outside of Europe when travelling abroad, and the USA claims the top spot here, with a total of £5.2 billion spent by UK residents in 2022. For the biggest spend outside of Europe in 2022, they are followed by Turkey (£2.1 billion), the United Arab Emirates (£1.6 billion), India (£1.1 billion) and Mexico (£0.9 billion).

Chart
Table

Year	USA	Turkey	United Arab Emirates	India	Mexico
2017	£5.5 billion	£1 billion	£0.9 billion	£1 billion	£0.7 billion
2018	£6 billion	£1 billion	£1.2 billion	£1 billion	£0.8 billion
2019	£5.9 billion	£1.4 billion	£1.4 billion	£1.2 billion	£0.8 billion
2020	-	-	-	-	-
2021	£0.6 billion	£0.3 billion	£0.03 billion	£0.2 billion	£0.1 billion
2022	£5.2 billion	£2.1 billion	£1.6 billion	£1.1 billion	£0.9 billion

What is the average holiday spend per day in each country?

The 5 countries with highest daily spend

1. Barbados £231
2. Malta £184
3. Switzerland £172
4. USA £171
5. United Arab Emirates £171

The 5 countries with lowest daily spend

1. Sri Lanka £38
2. Nigeria £34
3. Egypt £34
4. Pakistan £33
5. India £31

Search table

Country	Daily spend
Barbados	£231
Malta	£184
Switzerland	£172
USA	£171
United Arab Emirates	£171
France	£144
Luxembourg	£142
Netherlands	£124
Austria	£118
Denmark	£118
Italy	£114
Greece	£113
Belgium	£111
Germany	£106
Spain	£105
Finland	£102
Canada	£102
Portugal	£98
Sweden	£96
Mexico	£96
Jamaica	£95
Australia	£93
Republic of Ireland	£92
Norway	£87
Cyprus	£86
Israel	£85
Hong Kong	£82
Japan	£81
Thailand	£80
Russia	£79
Czech Republic	£79
New Zealand	£75
Slovakia	£68
Hungary	£66
South Africa	£61
Lithuania	£60
Brazil	£58
Romania	£53
Morocco	£53
Turkey	£52
Bulgaria	£50
Poland	£46
Tunisia	£46
China	£41
Sri Lanka	£38
Nigeria	£34
Egypt	£34
Pakistan	£33
India	£31

Which generation spends the most on travel abroad?

The planned spend on holidays abroad is, unsurprisingly, higher for the older generations – with the silent generation planning to spend £2,474 in 2023, while generation Z is planning to spend £1,860 and millennials are planning to spend £1,970.

The older generations tend to have more savings and more disposable income than the younger generations, which gives them the freedom to spend.

Generation X is planning to spend more on holidays than baby boomers, however, with £2375 compared to £2230. This may be because many of them have children under 18 to account for when going abroad!

Chart
Table

Generation	Percent	Predicted spend
Gen Z	81%	£1,860
Millennials	83%	£1,970
Gen X	62%	£2,376
Baby Boomers	52%	£2,231
Silent Generation	30%	£2,474

Which region spends the most on travel abroad?

Our survey found that people in Wales are going to be the biggest spenders on holidays abroad in 2023, with an average planned spend of £2,867 per person. This is double the holiday budget of people in Northern Ireland, where the average person was planning to spend £1,393.

Expected spend per region

Region	Predicted spend
Wales	2867
Yorkshire and the Humber	2291
South West	2267
Scotland	2260
South East	2169
Greater London	2129
East Midlands	2128
West Midlands	2054
North West	2005
East of England	1916
North East	1552
Northern Ireland	1393

Sources used

- - ONS
  - BudgetYourTrip
  - Finder commissioned Censuswide in June 2023 to carry out a nationally representative survey of adults aged 18+. A total of 2,000 people were questioned.

Methodology

To find out holiday spending plans for 2023, Finder commissioned Censuswide on 06 June 2023 to carry out a nationally representative survey of adults aged 18+. A total of 2,000 people were questioned throughout Great Britain, with representative quotas for gender, age and region.

Data on the number of Brits planning to travel abroad in 2022 is estimated based on a survey undertaken by the Department for Transport in June 2022, and taken as a percentage of the UK adult population according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The average spend per person was then calculated based on ONS data on the total holiday spend abroad by UK residents in 2022.

The average daily spend per country is based on data from the travel website Budget Your Trip, which is updated continually by users with real-life prices, and the most recent daily spend ONS data from 2022. The majority of values were averaged from the two sites. In the few cases when this was not possible, data from ONS or Budget Your Trip was used alone.

Passport? Check. Suncream? Check. Toothbrush? Check. Cash in the local currency or a debit card with low foreign transaction fees? Check.

Everyone loves going on holiday, but just how many Brits travel abroad? And how do they manage their money when they do?

We all have that friend who pretends to be Scrooge McDuck when on holiday and that other one who’d happily eat at McDonald’s every day just to save a few extra quid. What’s the middle ground? How much are Brits spending when abroad? We dived into the latest statistics to find out.

Quick overview

- - Brits made over 93.1 million trips abroad in 2019, up 3% compared to 2018.
  - Brits spent 7% more abroad than in 2018, totalling £62.3 billion in 2019.
  - The most common reasons for travelling abroad were for holidays, accounting for 58.7 million of our trips.
  - The two next most popular reasons for travelling were visiting friends and family (23.5 million) and business trips (9 million).
  - The most popular travel destination was Spain, making up 30% of all trips.
  - There were over 18.1 million trips made to Spain in 2019, almost 8 million more than the second most popular destination (France).
  - UK holidaymakers spend almost £1 billion a year at airports just to “get rid” of foreign currency.
  - 40.9 million people visited the UK in 2019 and they spent £28.4 billion while here.

Where do we visit?

With over 93 million trips made in 2019, it’s safe to say Brits love to explore the world. 5.6 million trips were made to North America, with 4.8 million of those to the USA and 757,000 to Canada. In total, 72.5 million trips were to Europe and 3.4 million trips were made to African countries, with Morocco being the most popular destination on the continent.

Our most popular holiday destination is Spain, with over 18.1 million trips made in 2019, 2.5 million more trips than in 2018 (15.6 million). The second most popular destination for Brits is France, as 10.3 million trips were made over the English Channel.

France may be a popular destination for Brits as the Eurotunnel Le Shuttle has made it easier to travel across. Taking 35 minutes from platform to platform, 11 million people used the tunnel in 2019.

Most visited countries by UK residents in 2019
Table

Country	Number of visits
Spain	18,129,000
France	10,347,000
Italy	5,105,000
USA	4,805,000
Republic of Ireland	4,786,000
Netherlands	3,573,000
Greece	3,438,000
Germany	3,375,000
Portugal	3,311,000
Poland	3,231,000

Total spending abroad

The total amount we have spent abroad has been slowly rising year-on-year until a slight dip after the financial crash in 2008. However, spending has recovered since then and has now reached a new peak of over £62.3 billion in 2019, up £4.2 billion from 2018.

The biggest spend was made in Europe, where Brits spent £38.7 billion while on holiday in 2019. In North America, Brits enjoyed the culture and food while spending £6.6 billion. The country that got the most pounds in their cash registers was, of course, Spain, where Brits spent £10.9 billion.

BUK spending on outbound tourism year-on-year, 1999–2019
Table

Year	Spending abroad by UK residents
2019	£62,325,000,000
2018	£58,128,000
2017	£54,426,000
2016	£50,864,000
2015	£46,480,000
2014	£43,065,000
2013	£41,369,000
2012	£38,475,000
2011	£37,917,000
2010	£37,128,000
2009	£34,455,000
2008	£36,838,000
2007	£35,013,000
2006	£34,411,000
2005	£32,154,000
2004	£30,285,000
2003	£28,550,000
2002	£26,962,000
2001	£25,332,000
2000	£24,251,000
1999	£22,020,000

Spend per trip

Budgeting for your trip is an essential part of your holiday planning, but which countries are costing us the most per trip and per day?

When making a budget for your next holiday, look at approximately what it costs to stay per day and per country. France is ranked the most expensive, as you’d spend around £166 per day for food, hotel and activities. A close second is Switzerland, where you’d fork out the same amount for travelling around per day.

If you want a lot of history for a budget-friendly price, Estonia and Romania might be the travel destinations for you. They would cost you £59 and £58 respectively per day, and you won’t have to skimp out on the fun.

Rank	Country	Cost per day
1	France	£165.79
2	Switzerland	£165.73
3	United Kingdom	£159.25
4	Monaco	£153.30
5	Liechtenstein	£152.84
6	Malta	£152.14
7	Denmark	£146.70
8	Luxembourg	£133.93
9	Iceland	£124.04
10	Andorra	£119.67
11	Italy	£112.97
12	Netherlands	£111.62
13	Finland	£109.86
14	Spain	£107.80
15	Sweden	£102.95
16	Greece	£100.52
17	Ireland	£99.62
18	Germany	£96.94
19	Belgium	£96.67
20	Austria	£96.41
21	Portugal	£90.70
22	Norway	£86.84
23	Cyprus	£74.61
24	Slovenia	£68.32
25	Czech Republic	£67.46
26	Croatia	£63.77
27	Slovakia	£62.32
28	Lithuania	£60.72
29	Estonia	£58.81
30	Romania	£58.00

What are we spending on?

Eurostat averaged spending across the 27 member EU states (plus the UK) to reveal what we are spending on while abroad.

Unsurprisingly, over two-thirds of our holiday spending is on accommodation (37%) and transport (31%), leaving us just 32% for all other holiday-related expenses.

Graph
Table

Spending	Proportion
Accomodation	37%
Travel	31%
Other	32%

Preferences while travelling abroad

While not everyone feels they need to have a reason to explore, 65% of Brits who travel say they do it for relaxation and recovery. The second most popular choice regarding preferences while on vacation was arranging their own travels, as 62% found this the most important.

22% of Brits play it safe by usually revisiting the same cities or regions they’ve travelled to before, and 16% like to play it by ear and buy last-minute tickets. Just 9% of all travelling Brits want to be active during their holiday.

Reason to travel
Table

Reason for travelling	Answer in %
I travel to relax and recover	65%
I prefer arranging my holidays to my own tastes	62%
By travelling, I want to gain new experiences	60%
I travel to get to know foreign countries and meet new people	38%
I prefer booking a package holiday	29%
I like travelling off the beaten track	27%
When on holiday, I usually visit the same place/the same region	22%
I usually book holidays at the last minute	16%
I travel in an environmentally friendly manner	15%
I want to have sporting challenges during my holiday	9%

Leftover money

Chances are you have experienced the dilemma of what to do with leftover currency at the end of your holiday. Recent research suggests Brits could be better off to the tune of almost £1 billion by converting their unwanted currency back to pounds.

- - UK holidaymakers say they need to have at least £52 worth of leftover currency to go through the effort of changing it back to pounds.
  - On average, UK adults spent £14.27 at airports per trip just to save them from bringing it home.
  - This equates to nearly £1 billion spent at airports every year just to get rid of foreign currency.