Most tourist-dependent economies

International tourist arrivals per resident — a ratio that exposes how overwhelmed small destinations become. Andorra hosts roughly 36 tourists for every resident.

Unit tourists per resident Source UN World Tourism Organization 2024 Entries 25

Headline finding

Andorra leads the world for most tourist-dependent economies at 36.4× tourists per resident.

The full top 25: Most tourist-dependent economies

Click any country to read its full profile.

What the numbers show

Andorra's lead at the top of this ranking is 328.2% above the second-place country — a margin so wide it suggests we're looking at a structural advantage rather than a close-run race.

The five countries leading the table — Andorra, Monaco, Iceland, Bahrain, Malta — together set the global benchmark. The next 20 countries fill the rest of the table, with Latvia anchoring the list at 1.7×.

Figures are drawn from UN World Tourism Organization 2024. We use this source because it produces a single, internally consistent dataset rather than aggregating from national statistics offices, which makes year-on-year comparison reliable. The next update is expected when the source publishes its next annual release — see the methodology section below for which year of data is currently shown.

Methodology and caveats

What this measures: tourists per resident
Source: UN World Tourism Organization 2024
Coverage: Top 25 countries shown. Full source dataset covers all 195 sovereign states where data is available.
Refresh cadence: Updated annually as the source publishes new figures, typically autumn or spring.
Known caveat: Country definitions follow the source: where the UN, the World Bank and the CIA Factbook disagree on borders or recognition, we use the figure as published rather than reconciling between bodies. Comparisons across rankings should be made with this in mind.

Frequently asked

Which country tops the ranking for tourist-dependent economies?

Andorra leads with 36.4× tourists per resident. Monaco is second at 8.5×, with Iceland in third place. Full top-10 with sources is above.

What's the source for the tourist-dependent economies ranking?

The figures come from UN World Tourism Organization 2024. We use this source because it publishes a complete country-by-country dataset using consistent methodology — the alternative of mixing national statistics offices would compromise comparability. Updated annually with the latest available vintage of the data.

How often are the tourist-dependent economies figures updated?

Once a year, in line with the source institution's publishing schedule. Major institutions like the World Bank, IMF and UNESCO publish annual updates in different months — typically autumn or spring — and the figures here reflect the most recently published vintage. The source footer on the ranking table shows which year's data is currently displayed.