Indians spent $1.6 billion on international travel in July

Outward remittances by Indians surged to $2.8 billion in July 2024, marking the highest level in 10 months. This increase is primarily driven by a rise in overseas travel spending, which accounted for 60% of the total remittances, up from 51% in July 2023.

In July, Indians spent $1.6 billion on overseas travel, a sharp rise from $1.3 billion in June and the first-quarter average of $1.2 billion. This uptick was fueled by students traveling for international summer admissions and a surge in leisure travel, including destination weddings, during the first half of the month.

Overall remittances during July showed a 16.7% increase year-on-year, with travel being the largest contributor, growing by 17.1%. Other categories like investments in equity and debt also saw significant growth, rising by 108.2% to $120.2 million, while remittances for medical treatment increased by 104.3% to $8.6 million. However, these categories represent a smaller portion of the total remittances. On the other hand, remittances for deposits declined by 16.8% compared to the previous year.


The rise in July follows a period of subdued overseas spending due to the government’s introduction of tax collection at source (TCS) on foreign exchange remittances starting in October 2023. As a result, monthly overseas spending until July had remained lower than last year’s average of $2.6 billion per month. Similarly, spending on travel had averaged below $1.4 billion per month since October 2023.

Over the past decade, Indian spending overseas under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) has seen a sharp increase, rising from just over $1 billion in FY14 to over $31.7 billion in FY24. The main factors behind this surge are the growing number of Indians taking international holidays and the increasing number of students pursuing education abroad.

with TOI inputs