Average Cost to Travel the World (2026 Data)

The average international trip cost $1,200¹ per traveler in 2025. That is what visitors spent at their destination on hotels, meals, local transport, tours and shopping, with the international flight left out. It spreads $1,884 billion¹ of visitor spending over 1,534 million¹ trips, so it mixes weekend city breaks with months-long journeys and backpackers with business travelers, and it hides how much the bill depends on how far you go and how long you stay.

Those two choices move the number far more than anything else. A trip from Europe to Oceania cost $3,747.10² in 2024, against $917.53³ for a trip to a neighboring EU country. A night on a trip of one to three nights cost $206.45⁴, a night on a stay of three months or more $32.88⁴, and U.S. airline fares were 23.4%⁴ higher in August 2026 than a year earlier. The sections below turn these figures into a cost per trip, per day, per month and per year, by destination, season, purpose and age.

What an international trip costs

The $1,200¹ average is total spending by international visitors in the countries they visit, divided by the number of overnight arrivals.¹ Dividing the two published totals gives $1,228.16⁴ per trip, which the published average rounds down. Either way, about $1,200 is the average travel cost of one trip abroad before the plane ticket, and it was higher than in 2024 in current dollars but roughly the same once inflation is taken out.¹

The flight is a large extra. Counting the fares that international visitors pay to airlines and other carriers, tourism brought in $2.2 trillion¹ in 2025, against the $1,884 billion spent in destinations. Spending per trip was $1,020.42⁴ in 2019 and jumped to $1,375.61⁴ in 2020, when far fewer trips were taken; by 2025 it was 20.4%⁴ above 2019 in current dollars.

So the average cost of international travel per trip sits a little above $1,200 once the published totals are divided exactly, and the flight comes on top. For 2026, growth in world travel has slowed: 690 million⁵ international trips were taken from January to June 2026, only 0.4%⁵ more than a year earlier, and the full-year outlook was cut to growth of 1% to 2%⁵, down from 3% to 4%⁵ expected in January.

Travel prices rose faster than prices overall

One reason trips cost more in current dollars is that travel itself got more expensive faster than other goods. Worldwide, prices of restaurants, hotels and transport rose 13.9%¹ in 2022, while consumer prices overall rose 8.7%¹, a gap of 5.2⁴ percentage points. The gap has narrowed since then but not closed: in 2025 travel prices rose 6.1%¹ against 4.1%¹ for all consumer prices.

From the world average to one traveler you can picture: the American on an overseas trip.

What Americans spend abroad

U.S. residents on overseas trips, meaning trips beyond Canada and Mexico, spent an average of $1,923⁶ each outside the United States in 2025 and stayed 15.32⁶ nights there. That works out at $125.52⁴ a night. Per trip, $1,923 is 1.60⁴ times the world average, and like the world figure it leaves out the international airfare.

The flight adds a lot. The same travelers paid $1,300⁶ each for international airfare, so a whole overseas trip came to $3,223⁶ per traveler, with the ticket 40.3%⁴ of the bill. The traveler behind that average is well off: mean household income was $167,271⁶.

The daily rate changes less than the trip total. Overseas travelers spent $125⁶ a day in 2025, travelers to Mexico $116⁶ and travelers to Canada $143⁶. Shorter stays and cheaper flights keep a whole trip to Canada, $1,662⁶, or Mexico, $1,601⁶, at about half the overseas total.

The national bill

Add it all up and Americans spent $287.3 billion⁷ on foreign travel in 2025, 60.1%⁴ more than in 2019.⁷ The long series in the chart runs from 1929; the trend line is our straight-line fit over 1990-2025, not a forecast; the fit includes the 2020-2021 collapse, which pulls the line down.

Where does that money go? Only a little over half of it is spent in the destination. In 2025, $163.8 billion⁷ (57.0%⁴) went on spending outside the United States, $110.7 billion⁷ (38.5%⁴) on passenger fares, and $12.8 billion⁷ (4.5%⁴) on U.S. students abroad.

The price of that basket has hardly moved in a decade. The price index for U.S. residents' foreign travel stood at 101.981⁷ in 2015 and 102.005⁷ in 2025 (2017 = 100), a change of 0.02%⁴. Prices of the basket were almost flat, so the rise in spending since 2019 reflects more or longer trips rather than higher prices.⁷

Airfares

Tickets have their own price path. U.S. airline fares, which cover domestic and international tickets, peaked as a yearly average in 2013 at an index of 312.709⁸ and were 18.1%⁴ lower in 2025, at 256.118⁸, after falling 2.1%⁴ in 2025 alone. The index measures fares paid, not a dollar price.

The last twelve months reversed the long slide. Airline fares were 23.4%⁴ higher in August 2026 than in August 2025, at 309.736⁸, after a spring peak of 329.824⁸ in May 2026, still below the all-time monthly high of 344.853⁸ in May 2022.⁸

The same question asked from the other side of the Atlantic gives a similar answer.

What European travelers spend abroad

Residents of the European Union spent $1,121.78⁴ (€1,036.38³) per personal trip abroad in 2024, or $138.32⁴ (€127.79³) a night over 8.1³ nights. Unlike the world and U.S. averages, this figure includes transport to the destination, and it covers every kind of personal trip, stays with friends and relatives among them. In euros, a trip abroad cost 42.4%⁴ more than in 2012; in dollars the line is flatter because the euro was worth more in 2012. Part of that rise is a break in 2017, when national surveys changed, so the long-run increase is smaller than the line suggests.

Where the traveler lives matters too. Swedes spent the most per trip abroad in 2024, $1,587.52³, and Hungarians the least, $513.50³, 3.09⁴ times less.³ Sweden, Luxembourg, Norway and Austria top the list; Hungary, Slovenia, Lithuania and Croatia sit at the bottom.

Where the money goes

A trip abroad splits into three almost equal parts. In 2024, EU travelers spent 35.7%⁴ of their money abroad on accommodation, 33.7%⁴ on food, activities, shopping and other spending, and 30.6%⁴ on transport. Per trip, that is $400.35⁴ for the bed, $378.53⁴ for everything else and $342.90⁴ for getting there and around.

Distance is what changes the mix. On a trip outside the EU, transport cost $616.07⁴, 2.52⁴ times the $244.03⁴ of a trip to another EU country, and the whole trip cost 1.84⁴ times as much. The nightly cost differs far less, because longer journeys also mean longer stays.

The ticket's share has slipped a little. Transport took 33.7%⁴ of spending on trips abroad in 2012 and 30.6% in 2024, 3.1⁴ percentage points less, with the low point, 29.7%⁴, in 2021.³

Now to the lever every traveler controls: time.

How long you travel changes the daily cost

The longer the trip, the less each night costs. EU residents spent $206.45⁴ (€190.73⁹) a night on trips abroad of one to three nights in 2024, and only $32.88⁴ (€30.38⁹) a night on trips of 92 to 365 nights, 6.28⁴ times less. On a long trip the cost of getting there is spread over many more nights.

What is the average travel cost per month?

A month on the road costs very different amounts depending on the pace. EU travelers on trips of one to three months spent $64.33⁴ a night in 2024, transport included, or $1,929.90⁴ for thirty nights. Americans on overseas trips spend $125.52 a night outside the United States on trips of about two weeks, with the international airfare not included; thirty nights at that rate come to $3,765.60⁴.

Average cost to travel the world for a year

A year of travel is not 365 short-trip days. At the rate EU residents actually spend on trips of 92 to 365 nights, $32.88 a night with transport included, a year comes to $12,001.20⁴. A single long trip of that kind cost EU travelers $4,874.01⁴ (€4,502.97⁹) on average in 2024, because the average such trip lasts well under a full year. For Americans the only measured nightly rate comes from trips of about two weeks; 365 nights at it would be $45,814.80⁴, before flights, and long stays usually cost less per night.

The EU figures include transport; the U.S. figures exclude the international airfare, which averaged $1,300 for U.S. overseas travelers in 2025.

Average daily travel cost by country

The farther the destination, the bigger the bill per trip. EU travelers spent $3,747.10² on a trip to Oceania in 2024, $2,853.10² on one to Central and South America and $2,813.10² on one to Asia, against $917.53 for a trip to another EU country: an Oceania trip cost 4.08⁴ times as much. Much of the gap is trip length: long-haul trips lasted 15.7² to 24.7² nights, against 7.1³ inside the EU.

Per night the ranking changes. Measured by what EU travelers actually spent per night in 2024, South Africa at $196.80² and Japan at $196.51² were the dearest destinations outside the EU, followed by Iceland at $179.59² and the United States at $178.92². The United Kingdom came to $142.27² and Ukraine to $55.64². These nightly figures include each trip's transport, so far-away places with short stays look dearer.

How far a dollar goes on the ground is a separate question from what travelers spend. Across 144¹¹ countries with 2025 data, the general price level of household goods and services ranged from 129.7¹¹ in Iceland and 128.2¹¹ in Switzerland to 15.7¹¹ in Egypt, with the United States at 100.¹¹ Only 6⁴ countries were dearer than the United States: Iceland, Switzerland, Israel, Denmark, Haiti and Ireland, with Haiti's value reflecting its official exchange rate. The median country stood at 49.15⁴, so in half of them the same things cost less than half the U.S. price. Japan stood at 69.0¹¹, Mexico at 58.8¹¹ and Thailand at 32.3¹¹.

This measures all consumer prices, not travelers' spending.

Restaurants and hotels across Europe

For the prices travelers pay most, restaurants and accommodation, Europe has a finer comparison. With the EU average set at 100, they cost 173.2¹² in Iceland and 163.1¹² in Switzerland in 2025, against 48.3¹² in North Macedonia and 53.3¹² in Albania.¹² Portugal, at 73.6¹², and Czechia, at 69.5¹², are among the cheaper EU members.

When, why and who: what changes the bill

The month of departure matters less than you might think. Among trips that began from January to November, EU travelers who left in November spent the most per trip in 2024, $1,257.67¹³, and those who left in April the least, $1,041.68¹³, a difference of 20.7%⁴. December is left out: a trip is counted in the year it ends, so the December figure covers only trips that ended by the end of the year and is not comparable. Summer trips are longer, so a night cost least in July, $112.95¹³, and most in October, $168.06¹³.

Why you travel changes the bill more. A holiday abroad cost EU travelers $1,205.64¹⁴ per trip in 2024, while a visit to friends or relatives cost $772.80¹⁴, since staying with them cuts the accommodation bill. Business trips cost $1,297.08¹⁴ per trip and $274.64¹⁴ a night, 1.79⁴ times the holiday night of $153.34¹⁴.

Spending rises with age. Travelers aged 15 to 24 spent $923.69¹⁵ per trip abroad in 2024 and those aged 65 and over $1,374.57¹⁵, 1.49⁴ times as much. Per night the oldest group spent $140.92¹⁵ and the youngest $113.79¹⁵, so dearer nights and longer trips both add to the gap.

What this means for your trip

A few figures on this page do most of the budgeting work:

• Stay longer to pay less per night. Nights on trips of three months or more cost 6.28 times less than nights on one-to-three-night trips.⁹
• Price the flight separately. Transport was 30.6% of what EU travelers spent abroad, and passenger fares were 38.5% of U.S. residents' foreign travel spending.^{3 7}
• Watch airfares in a rising market. U.S. airline fares were 23.4% higher in August 2026 than a year earlier.⁸
• Go where your money goes further. In half of the 144 countries with data, consumer prices were below half the U.S. level in 2025.¹¹

How single destinations compare

National visitor surveys give a destination's own view of the same cost, fares to the country left out. Overseas visitors spent $966.07⁴ per visit in Ireland in 2025, and international visitors $1,125.72⁴ per visit in Scotland and $1,001.62⁴ in England in 2024, all between about $970 and $1,130, below the world average of about $1,200 per trip. London stood out per night, at $187.09⁴, over stays of 5.6¹⁶ nights.^{17 16}

Conclusions

1. Trip length is the biggest lever. Per-night spending, transport included, falls from $206.45 on one-to-three-night trips to $32.88 on stays of three months or more, 6.28 times less; a year at the long-stay rate comes to $12,001.20.^{9 4}
2. Distance sets the size of the bill. A trip to Oceania cost 4.08 times a trip to another EU country, and transport on a trip outside the EU cost 2.52 times as much as inside it.^{2 3}
3. The flight is a large and moving part of the bill. Transport is 30.6% of EU travelers' spending abroad and passenger fares 38.5% of U.S. foreign travel spending, and U.S. airfares rose 23.4% in a year.^{3 7 8}
4. Americans spend more than the average traveler. $1,923 per overseas trip against the $1,200 world average, 1.60 times as much, before an airfare of $1,300.^{6 1}
5. Purpose and age move the bill too. A holiday abroad cost 1.56 times a visit to friends or relatives, and travelers aged 65 and over spent 1.49 times as much per trip as those aged 15 to 24.^{14 15}