Domestic and International Holiday Statistics UK

We analysed data from the Office for National Statistics and Kantar to compare stats on domestic and international holidays taken by residents in the UK. Here's what we found.

Table of Contents

• Number of holidays
• Average holiday length
• Average holiday cost
• Average amount spent/night

Number of Holidays in the UK and Abroad

In 2019, we went on 60,452,000 domestic holidays in Great Britain and 58,667,838 international holidays taken from the UK—that's a total of 119.12 million holidays in total. It's also a 30% increase in the number of international holidays since 2014, and a 14% increase in domestic holidays over the same time period.

Average Holiday Length

Not surprisingly, holidays taken abroad have usually been longer than domestic holidays—5.4 days longer, in fact, in 2019. The average domestic GB holiday lasted 3.3 days in 2019, compared to the average international holiday which lasted 8.7 days. International holidays have gotten around 8% shorter over the past 6 years (equating to nearly 1 day less time away). The duration of domestic holidays dropped 6% from 2014 to 2019.

Average UK Holiday Cost

Since international holidays are usually longer, it's no surprise that they cost more. Setting aside the costs of airfare or other travel costs in getting abroad, how do other holidays costs compare? On average, we spent £739 on international holidays and £240 on domestic in 2019.

Average Holiday Cost per Night

How do holidays abroad and domestically compare on a cost-per-night basis? In 2019, we spent an average of £84 a night on holidays abroad, for expenses like food and accommodation (not including transit costs like airfare to get to your destination). In contrast we spent £73 a night on domestic trips. Trips abroad used to be less expensive per night than domestic holidays, but this changed in 2016. Since 2014, the cost of international holiday spending per night has risen 25%, making trips abroad less affordable for Brits.

Sources