Slow growth rate in tourist arrivals in South Africa in 2014 but salient characteristics remain virtually unchanged

4 August 2015

According to the 2014 Tourism report released by Statistics South Africa, 9,5 million tourists were recorded among a total of 15,1 million people who arrived in South Africa in 2014. In the recent years, there has been a general slow-down in the rate of growth of tourists arriving in the country. The volume of tourists increased by 0,1% between 2013 and 2014; 3,6% between 2012 and 2013; and 10,2% between 2011 and 2012. Virtually all tourists were in South Africa for holidays.

The salient characteristics of the 2014 tourists did not differ much from observations from previous years. Thus the regional distribution of the 2014 tourists indicated that 74% were residents from the SADC countries; 24% came from overseas countries whilst 2% were residents from other African countries (i.e. non-SADC member countries). Likewise, virtually the same leading countries with respect to tourist arrivals from the regions were picked in 2014 as has been the case in previous years.

The ten leading countries for overseas tourists in 2014 were: United Kingdom (401 914); United States of America (309 255); Germany (274 571); France (131 502); The Netherlands (131 287); Australia (111 213); India (85 639); China (82 905); Canada (60 544) and Italy (58 605). A comparison of the 2014 volumes with the 2013 volumes indicates that the number of tourists decreased in all the overseas countries except The Netherlands. China had the highest decrease of 45,1% while tourists from The Netherlands increased by 8,7%.

Zimbabwe (2 143 716); Lesotho (1 501 642); Mozambique (1 283 016); Swaziland (918 490); Botswana (555 590); Namibia (211 453); Zambia (176 972); Malawi (166 964); Angola (53 592); and DRC (29 800) were the top ten countries from the SADC region. The SADC countries that showed an increase in the number of tourists from 2013 to 2014 were Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland and Botswana whilst Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Angola and DRC showed a decrease. Mozambique had the highest increase of 14,9% while DRC declined by 12,5%.

The ten leading countries from ‘other’ African countries were: Nigeria (65 973); Kenya (29 586); Ghana (19 789); Uganda (13 286); Gabon (8 402); Ethiopia (7 070); Egypt (6 514); Cameroon (4 545); Congo (3 944); and Senegal (2 363) A comparison between the 2014 and 2013 volumes indicated that the number of tourists declined in nine countries but increased in Gabon. Senegal had the highest decrease of 39,8% whereas Gabon increased by 6,8%.

The demographic characteristics indicated that there were more male (52%) than female (41%) tourists (7% were unspecified). Although males constituted the majority of SADC (52%) and Overseas (50%)] tourists; they constituted 61% of the tourists from ‘other’ African countries (61%).

The age distribution indicates that out of all tourists about 90% were aged between 15 and 64 years; 6% were aged less than 15 years; and 5% were aged 65 years and over. Taking regions into consideration, at least 80% of tourists from overseas, SADC and ‘other’ African countries, were aged between 15 and 64 years. The results further show a relatively higher proportion (13%) of the elderly among overseas residents compared with 2% of residents from SADC and 2% of those from ‘other’ African countries.

The full report is available on the Statistics South Africa website here.

Statement issued by Statistics South Africa, August 4 2015