75% fewer trips abroad in 2020

People from the UK made nearly 75 per cent fewer trips abroad in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, new data suggests.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), published yesterday, show that UK residents made an estimated 23.8 million visits overseas in 2020.

This was the lowest figure since 1985 and down 74 per cent on 2019 when there were 93.1m visits, the ONS said.

The data also showed that travellers from the UK spent an estimated £13.8 billion on trips abroad in 2020, 78 per cent less than the previous year. These falls were echoed in a similar drop in the estimated number of trips to the UK by overseas residents, to 11.1m in 2020 - 73 per cent fewer than in 2019.

The figures also showed that overseas residents spent an estimated £6.2bn on their visits to the UK in 2020, 78 per cent less than the previous year.

The ONS said: "These large falls are attributable to the coronavirus pandemic, with travel restrictions and reluctance to travel becoming widespread."

The ONS said its modelling based on past trends suggested that 60 per cent of UK residents' visits abroad were for holidays, with 14.2m holiday trips overseas in 2020. This is a drop of 76 per cent compared with the 58.7m holiday trips abroad in 2019, it added.

There was an 81 per cent drop in visits to North America by UK residents to 1.1m, a 74 per cent fall in trips to Europe to 18.7m, and a 73 per cent decline in visits to other countries - outside Europe and North America - to 4.1m.