South Africa

The International Passenger Survey (IPS) was suspended on 16 March 2020 due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic until the start of 2021. The ONS have made every effort to produce high-quality estimates for the periods when IPS data is not being collected but have not been able to produce a full set of results therefore no data from 2020 is available on the interactive chart below. Interviewing initially began at UK airports at the start of 2021, though the IPS remained suspended at some sea ports and train stations during the year. Data for 2021 and 2022 is also excluded below as there were no interviews at Eurotunnel until July 2022 and data from Dover was only collected from Q3 2021.

Read more about 2020 inbound data, 2021 inbound data, 2022 quarterly data as well as the latest monthly data for 2022.

Global context


Measure	2019
International tourism expenditure (US$bn)	<4.1
Global rank for international tourism expenditure	>50
Number of outbound visits (m)	5.2
Most visited destination	Mozambique
Most visited destination in Western Europe	United Kingdom

Key demographic and economic data


Measure	2021
Population (m)	60.1
GDP per capita PPP (US$)	12,819
Annual average GDP growth over past decade (%)	0.9
Annual GDP growth (%)	4.9

South Africa Aviation Profile (PDF, 175 KB)

Find out where visitors from South Africa reside in their own country (Excel, 176KB, Published in 2016)

Exchange rate

1 GBP = 20.9739 ZAR

As of 8 December 2022

Retrieved from the Bank of England

Inbound visits to Britain from South Africa

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Drag to change year on charts and tables.

Touch the data points to see the values.

OVERVIEW OF UK VISITOR STATISTICS {{activeYear.name}}

Number of visits

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Total expenditure (GBP)

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Total nights spent

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Average length of stay (Nights)

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Average spend per visit (GBP)

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Chart
Table

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	Visits	% total	Visits	% total
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Chart
Table

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	Visits	% total	Nights	% total	Visits	% total	Nights	% total
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Chart
Table

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	Visits	% total	Visits	% total
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Access to Britain from South Africa


Measure	2019
Weekly aircraft departures	51
Weekly seat capacity	15,927
Airports with direct routes in South Africa	3
Airports with direct routes in Britain	2

In 2019, 3 airports in South Africa served 2 British airports: London Heathrow and London Gatwick
In 2019, weekly flight departures increased by 15% on 2018
Out of all the airlines to operate the South African to Britain route in 2019, British Airways served the most departing seats, with a 66% share
In 2019, average weekly seat capacity grew by 11% compared to the previous year
In 2019, the highest share of departing seats came from the Johannesburg to London Heathrow route, with a 71% share
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a 66% reduction in direct seat capacity from South Africa to the UK in 2020, and 2021 was 90% behind pre-COVID levels
The current reduced rate of Air Passenger Duty for visitors departing Britain for South Africa is £84

Markets

South Africa