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Outbound travel's contribution to the UK economy rises to £57 billion

Economy
James Chapple
24 September 2026

The value to the UK economy of the international travel sector has grown to £88.5 billion a year, up from £80 billion just a few years ago.

An aircraft taking off from an airport at night
iStock / chalabala

Abta and UKinbound have teamed up to highlight the economic value of international travel

Outbound's contribution now runs to £57 billion in overall gross value added (GVA) a year, with inbound contributing a further £31.5 billion.

Collectively, international travel supports 1.4 million jobs throughout the UK.

Abta and UKinbound's findings, revealed in a new report issued on Thursday (24 September), will be shared with politicians at the Labour Party conference at the weekend.

The report breaks these contributions down by region to make it easier to appreciate the importance of international travel to the UK. For instance, outbound is worth £6.5 billion a year to the North West, supporting 98,000 jobs, and inbound £3.5 billion.