Greece among 30 destinations where tourists outnumber locals - World Bank

Greece is among 30 destinations where tourists outnumber locals, according to figures for 2014, the latest available on the World Bank website, published by telegraph.co.uk.

The world's most popular country is France, with just shy of 84 million overseas visitors. 

Second is the US, on 75m, third is Spain on 65m, while the UK comes eighth at 32.6m. 

The world's most visited countries

1. France - 83,767,000 annual visitors
2. United States - 75,011,000
3. Spain - 64,995,000
4. China - 55,622,000
5. Italy - 48,576,000
6. Turkey - 39,811,000
7. Germany - 32,999,000
8. United Kingdom - 32,613,000
9. Russian Federation - 32,421,000
10. Mexico - 29,346,000

Given the sheer size of France, the US, Spain, China, and others in the top 10, it's not suprising they lure so many travellers. But what happens when if take visitor numbers and divide them by a destination's population, to give the number of tourists per resident? 

The tiny principality of Andorra tops the charts. It welcomed 2.36m tourists in 2014, but just 70,000 people call it home. That works out at 33.5 tourists per resident. 

Macau, the gambling hub, comes second - with 24.8 tourists per resident, followed by a pair of Caribbean gems - the British Virgin Islands (12.8) and the Turks and Caicos Islands (10.4). In total, there are 51 destinations where tourists outnumber locals - and we've gone to the trouble of listing them all below. 

The 51 destinations where tourists outnumber locals

1. Andorra - 33.53057199 annual tourists per resident
2. Macao - 24.78871897
3. British Virgin Islands - 12.81668161
4. Turks and Caicos Islands - 10.42546376
5. Aruba - 10.31870554
6. Monaco - 8.719620471
7. Northern Mariana Islands - 8.353005266
8. Guam - 7.905347735
9. Bahrain - 7.589107757
10. Saint Maarten - 7.142857143
11. Palau - 6.622516556
12. Cayman Islands - 6.386846099
13. US Virgin Islands - 5.812269488
14. Malta - 3.91808649
15. Hong Kong - 3.801141574
16. The Bahamas - 3.67765496
17. Bermuda - 3.433739557
18. Iceland - 3.01671891
19. Maldives - 2.945036575
20. Austria - 2.937027237
21. Curacao - 2.860035434
22. Croatia - 2.751394043
23. Antigua and Barbuda - 2.711886558
24. Seychelles - 2.508073197
25. San Marino - 2.35990057
26. Estonia - 2.224088756
27. Montenegro - 2.169064956
28. Singapore - 2.143449993
29. Cyprus - 2.094739552
30. Greece - 2.035619507
31. St. Kitts and Nevis - 2.033398114
32. Ireland - 1.899065723
33. Barbados - 1.833119293
34. St. Lucia - 1.827036903
35. Luxembourg - 1.822088345
36. Denmark - 1.808843619
37. Georgia - 1.499320468
38. Liechtenstein - 1.438810583
39. Spain - 1.400203011
40. Qatar - 1.264228724
41. Grenada - 1.254388018
42. France - 1.253839619
43. Hungary - 1.233152586
44. Slovenia - 1.16825147
45. Albania - 1.156388675
46. Slovak Republic - 1.149510052
47. Dominica - 1.114474408
48. Switzerland - 1.105107581
49. United Arab Emirates - 1.090973066
50. Bulgaria - 1.018530115
51. Czech Republic - 1.006234446

One country is glaringly absent, however. The Vatican City does not appear on The World Bank's database, but it attracts around five million people each year and has a resident population of just 842. That's almost 6,000 tourists per citizen - putting it way out in front.

The UK, for the record, has a population of 65.14 million - almost exactly double the 32.61 million foreign travellers it welcomed in 2014.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report