International tourism

Banca d'Italia has been conducting since 1996 a survey on international tourism primarily to collect information for compiling the 'Travel' item (which includes goods and services acquired from an economy by non-residents during visits to that economy) and the 'Passenger transport services' item in Italy's balance of payments, in line with the methodological conventions laid out in the sixth edition of the IMF's manual (BPM6). The survey is based on interviews and counts of resident and non-resident travellers at the Italian borders (road and rail crossings, international ports and airports); it is integrated with administrative data and, since end-2020, with mobile phone data, where available.

The survey also serves as a useful database for operators in the tourism sector and researchers, thanks to the wide range of analytical data provided alongside those gathered strictly for balance of payment requirements. The data are available on this website both in aggregate form and as microdata.

Monthly brief on international tourism

Last June, Italy's tourism balance of payments recorded a surplus of €3.8 billion, slightly higher than in the same month of 2025. Both inbound tourism expenditure (€6.8 billion) and outbound tourism expenditures (€3.0 billion) increased compared with June 2025, by 4.8 and 2.6 per cent, respectively.

For the three-month period ending in June 2026, both flows also increased compared with the same period of the previous year (Fig. 1), with stronger growth in receipts (3.9 per cent) and a more modest rise in expenditure (1.1 per cent). In both cases, the increase was mainly attributable to business travel. Spending by foreign travellers in Italy benefited from an increase in the number of travellers and overnight stays, despite a slight decline in per capita spending. By contrast, the rise in spending by Italian travellers abroad was driven by higher per capita spending, which was, however, largely offset by a decline in the number of travellers and overnight stays. The growth in tourism receipts was driven by both non-EU and EU travellers (4.6 and 3.3 per cent, respectively; Fig. 2, left-hand panel). Travel expenditure abroad increased for EU destinations (2.8 per cent), while declining for non-EU destinations (-0.7 per cent; Fig. 2, right-hand panel).

Fig. 1 - Italy's inbound and outbound tourism expenditure
(3-month moving averages; year-on-year percentage changes)

Italy's inbound and outbound tourism expenditure - Fig. 1

Fig. 2 - Italy's inbound and outbound tourism expenditure by geographical area
(3-month moving averages; year-on-year percentage changes)

Italy's inbound and outbound tourism expenditure by geographical area - Fig. 2

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