Business travel spending reached $1.468 trillion globally in 2024, according to the 2025 Business Travel Index Outlook – Executive Summary. The same report estimates $1.565 trillion for 2025 and forecasts $2.018 trillion by 2029. The figures below separate historical totals, estimates, forecasts, survey results, and destination-based measures so the scale of business travel is easier to interpret.
Contents
- Global spending trends
- Largest projected markets
- Traveler behavior and business value
- European business trip volume
- European expenditure patterns
- United States scale and economic impact
Global spending trends
Global business travel spending changed dramatically between 2019 and 2024. The 2025 Business Travel Index Outlook – Executive Summary reports $1.430 trillion in 2019, followed by $661 billion in 2020 and $697 billion in 2021. Spending then rose to $1.027 trillion in 2022, $1.336 trillion in 2023, and $1.468 trillion in 2024.
The 2024 total represented 9.9% year-over-year growth. The report estimates global spending at $1.565 trillion for 2025, with 6.6% growth forecast for that year, and forecasts 8.1% growth in 2026. Its forecast totals are $1.692 trillion in 2026, $1.800 trillion in 2027, $1.914 trillion in 2028, and $2.018 trillion in 2029.
| Period | Global business travel spending | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | $1.430 trillion | Historical |
| 2020 | $661 billion | Historical |
| 2021 | $697 billion | Historical |
| 2022 | $1.027 trillion | Historical |
| 2023 | $1.336 trillion | Historical |
| 2024 | $1.468 trillion | Historical |
| 2025 | $1.565 trillion | Estimate |
| 2026 | $1.692 trillion | Forecast |
| 2029 | $2.018 trillion | Forecast |
Recovery in nominal spending does not mean every measure has returned to its earlier level. Inflation-adjusted global business travel spending for 2025 is expected to remain $134 billion, or 14%, below 2019, according to the same GBTA report. That distinction matters when comparing the pre-2020 benchmark with later dollar totals.
Largest projected markets
The GBTA 2025 forecast identifies the United States and China as the two largest origin-market business travel spending markets. The United States is projected at $395.4 billion, with a projected annual growth rate of 10%. China is projected at $373.1 billion, with 2% annual growth.
The next largest projected totals are Germany at $80.1 billion and Japan at $74.4 billion. Germany’s projected annual growth rate is 4%, while Japan’s is 6%. The United Kingdom is projected at $60.2 billion and 14% growth, followed by France at $46.9 billion and 4% growth.
| Market | 2025 projected spending | Projected annual growth |
|---|---|---|
| United States | $395.4 billion | 10% |
| China | $373.1 billion | 2% |
| Germany | $80.1 billion | 4% |
| Japan | $74.4 billion | 6% |
| United Kingdom | $60.2 billion | 14% |
| France | $46.9 billion | 4% |
| South Korea | $44.7 billion | 14% |
| India | $43.0 billion | 15% |
South Korea is projected at $44.7 billion with 14% annual growth, and India at $43.0 billion with 15% growth. Italy is projected at $40.0 billion and 8% growth, while Brazil is projected at $30.4 billion and 2% growth.
The remaining markets listed in the forecast include Canada at $28.1 billion with 10% growth, Australia at $27.9 billion with 5% growth, Spain at $26.7 billion with 0% growth, Türkiye at $24.1 billion with 9% growth, and the Netherlands at $23.7 billion with negative 1% growth. These are forecasts for origin-market spending, not a ranking of spending received by destinations.
Traveler behavior and business value
GBTA’s 2025 global traveler survey describes how respondents were traveling and managing expenses. More than 80% of surveyed business travelers said they were traveling as much as or more than before. Among surveyed travelers, 74% took between one and five trips in the past year, and average business-trip spending was $1,128.
The survey also measured payment and expense tools. Corporate-card access was reported by 69% of surveyed business travelers globally and by 73% of surveyed North American business travelers. Mobile-wallet use was reported by 64% globally and by 72% among surveyed Asia-Pacific business travelers. Expense systems were used by 67% of surveyed business travelers.
The reported responses suggest that business travel is tied to measurable business objectives for many travelers. A total of 86% of surveyed business travelers rated their trips worthwhile for achieving business objectives. In addition, 71% said they could redeem corporate travel perks, while 78% of surveyed Asia-Pacific business travelers were comfortable with AI booking tools.
These percentages describe respondents in GBTA’s 2025 global traveler survey. They are not population estimates, and they should not be treated as the share of all business travelers worldwide.
Sector mix provides another view of the market. Manufacturing accounted for 31% of global business travel spending in 2024, according to the 2025 Business Travel Index Outlook – Executive Summary. This is a spending share for the stated year, rather than a measure of trip volume or traveler count.
European business trip volume
Eurostat counts professional or business trips as a tourism-trip purpose category. Its Tourism statistics – characteristics of tourism trips report says EU residents made more than 123 million professional or business trips with at least one overnight stay in 2024. Professional trips represented 10.3% of all tourism trips by EU residents with overnight stays.
The geography of those trips was predominantly domestic. In 2024, 72.1% of EU residents’ professional trips were domestic. Duration was also concentrated in shorter journeys: 75.6% lasted no more than three nights.
The latest figure sits above the previous year’s reported level. EU residents made 110 million professional trips in 2023, and professional trips increased 9.3% from 2022 to 2023. The 2023 and 2024 figures use the Eurostat professional-trip definition and refer to EU residents rather than every business trip occurring within EU territory.
Eurostat’s methodology covers EU residents aged 15 and over taking tourism trips outside their usual environment with at least one overnight stay. Professional or business travel is one purpose category within that framework. This means the figures do not describe same-day business travel or trips that do not meet the tourism-trip definition.
European expenditure patterns
Business trips accounted for 13% of EU tourism expenditure in 2024, according to Eurostat’s Tourism statistics – expenditure. The same source reports average expenditure of €631 per EU business trip and €203 per night.
The per-night figure was substantially higher for business travel than for personal-purpose trips. EU business-trip expenditure per night was 2.1 times the €112 average for personal-purpose trips. This comparison concerns expenditure intensity per night; it does not mean business trips were 2.1 times longer or more numerous.
Business travel’s share of spending was close to, but above, its share of trip volume. Business trips represented 10% of EU residents’ tourism trips and 13% of tourism expenditure. The two measures therefore show a larger expenditure share than trip share in the 2024 Eurostat data.
Taken together with the duration data, the figures describe a European business-trip pattern that is often short but relatively high in spending per night. The averages are EU-wide measures and should not be read as the typical cost of a particular country, route, industry, or traveler profile.
United States scale and economic impact
The United States has a large domestic business travel base and a substantial economic footprint. The Business Travel Within the U.S. Drives Over $623 Billion in Economic Impact as Spending Reaches $538 Billion, According to New GBTA Study reports nearly 488 million business trips across the United States in 2024.
Business travel spending in U.S. destinations reached $538.5 billion in 2024. Domestic business travel contributed $270.0 billion of U.S. destination spending, while international inbound business travel contributed $50.7 billion. Meetings and events delivery and management contributed $217.8 billion of U.S. business travel spending.
The study also reports labor and public-revenue effects. U.S. business travel supported 6.7 million jobs in 2024 and generated $148.6 billion in total tax revenue. These measures describe destination spending and its economic impact in the United States.
The U.S. destination figures should be kept distinct from the GBTA market forecast above. GBTA’s market totals are origin-market business travel spending forecasts, while the U.S. impact study measures destination spending. Because those measures use different perspectives, they are not directly interchangeable or additive.