Number of foreign tourists in Ukraine plunges by almost 75% over COVID-19

The number of foreign tourists who entered the territory of Ukraine in 2020 decreased by almost 75% over the coronavirus pandemic, to 2.7 million for the nine months of 2020 from 10.7 million year-over-year.

At the same time, according to the National Bank of Ukraine, foreign tourists spent 96.3% less currency in Ukraine for the nine months of 2020 y-o-y, as reported by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine with reference to the State Agency for Tourism Development of Ukraine.

Read alsoUkraine's Tourism Agency, Google sign memorandum of cooperationIn total, foreign citizens brought a mere US$244 million to Ukraine for the three quarters of 2020, while it was US$1.62 billion for the whole 2019.

At the same time, Ukrainians' expenses on travel abroad also dropped significantly due to the coronavirus-related quarantine and closed borders. In particular, they amounted to US$3.259 billion for the nine months of 2020, or 54.6% less y-o-y. Most of this sum is Ukrainian labor migrants' spending abroad.