The International Passenger Survey conducted in the UK shows that although visits to the UK increased, less was spent, while British travellers are spending more overseas than visitors to the UK.In the three months to November 2005, compared with the previous three months, the seasonally adjusted results from the International Passenger Survey:

Overseas residents’ visits to the UK increased in number by 2 per cent to 7.6 million

Overseas earnings decreased by 2 per cent to £3,440 million

UK residents’ visits abroad increased in number by 1 per cent to 16.7 million

UK residents’ expenditure abroad increased by 4 per cent to £8,170 million

The difference between earnings and expenditure resulted in a deficit to the UK of £4,720 million, £370 million larger than in the previous three months

Overseas visitors to the UK

The estimated number of overseas residents’ visits to the UK, seasonally adjusted, in the three months to November 2005 increased by 2 per cent to 7.6 million compared with the previous three months and increased by 8 per cent compared with the three months to November 2004.

The total number of overseas residents’ visits to the UK, not seasonally adjusted, increased by 10 per cent during the 12 months ending in November 2005 compared with a year earlier (from 27.4 million to 30.1 million).

This was as a result of the number of visits from Western Europe increasing by 11 per cent (to 19.5 million), visits from North America decreasing by 4 per cent (to 4.2 million) and visits from other parts of the world increasing by 18 per cent (to 6.4 million). (Tables 1 and 2)

UK residents’ visits abroad

The estimated number of UK residents’ visits abroad, seasonally adjusted, in the three months to November 2005 increased by 1 per cent to 16.7 million compared with the previous three months and increased by 2 per cent compared with the three months to November 2004.

The total number of UK residents’ visits overseas, not seasonally adjusted, increased by 4 per cent during the 12 months ending in November 2005 compared with a year earlier (from 64.0 million to 66.4 million).

This was as a result of the number of visits to Western Europe increasing by 1 per cent (to 50.0 million), visits to North America increasing by 4 per cent (to 5.0 million) and visits to other parts of the world increasing by 19 per cent (to 11.4 million). (Tables 1 and 3)

Overseas earnings and expenditure

Comparing the three months to November 2005, seasonally adjusted, with the previous three months, total spending by overseas visitors to the UK (earnings) decreased by 2 per cent to £3.4 billion and spending by UK residents overseas (expenditure) increased by 4 per cent to £8.2 billion.

This resulted in a deficit to the UK of £4.7 billion, compared with £4.4 billion in the three months to August 2005.

During the 12 months ending November 2005, not seasonally adjusted, overseas earnings increased by 7 per cent to £14.0 billion and expenditure by UK residents increased by 7 per cent to £32.2 billion compared with the previous year.

This resulted in a deficit to the UK of £18.2 billion compared with £17.2 billion during the same period to November 2004. (Table1 and 4)
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