Air passengers carried over time (1970–2023)

Follow air passengers carried for the world’s countries, year by year, from 1970 to 2023.

The country ranked first changed over time: United States in 1970–2019, China in 2020, United States in 2021–2023.
Japan’s air passengers carried went from 16.3M in 1970 to 120M in 2023 (about 7.4×).
Japan ranked #2 of 114 countries in 1970 and #6 of 147 in 2023. The number of countries differs between the years, so the ranks are not directly comparable.

Japan and the leading countries

Key years for Japan and the leading countries in 2023
Country	1970	1980	1990	2000	2010	2020	2023
United States	163M	295M	465M	665M	720M	370M	942M
China	–	2.57M	16.6M	61.9M	266M	417M	619M
Ireland	1.48M	1.83M	4.81M	14M	84.8M	54.6M	193M
India	2.67M	6.6M	10.9M	17.3M	64.4M	69M	180M
Türkiye	1.04M	1.25M	4.34M	12.2M	45.7M	44.7M	126M
Japan	16.3M	45.1M	76.2M	109M	110M	51.1M	120M
Countries with data	114	139	148	155	157	151	147

Ranking and map for any year

Choose a year to see that year’s top countries and the world map. Colors split that year’s ranking into seven steps.

2023


Rank	Country	Air passengers carried

Biggest changes, 1970–2023

Compared among the countries that have data in both 1970 and 2023. Countries with a very small starting value are left out, because their ratios look exaggerated.

Biggest increases
Country	1970	2023	Change	Rank
Hungary	282K	55.6M	about 197×	#60 → #19
Ireland	1.48M	193M	about 130×	#25 → #3
Türkiye	1.04M	126M	about 122×	#33 → #5
Indonesia	826K	97M	about 117×	#37 → #9
Austria	511K	46M	about 90×	#47 → #25

Biggest decreases
Country	1970	2023	Change	Rank
North Korea	165K	3.69K	down about 98%	#79 → #146
Malawi	51.7K	3.51K	down about 93%	#103 → #147
Niger	54.7K	5.78K	down about 89%	#102 → #145
Uganda	172K	21.7K	down about 87%	#74 → #144
Cuba	874K	137K	down about 84%	#36 → #131

The number of countries differs between the years, so the ranks are not directly comparable.

All countries in key years

Open the table (countries with data)

Key years for Japan and the leading countries in 2023
Country	1970	1980	1990	2000	2010	2020	2023
United States	163M	295M	465M	665M	720M	370M	942M
China	–	2.57M	16.6M	61.9M	266M	417M	619M
Ireland	1.48M	1.83M	4.81M	14M	84.8M	54.6M	193M
India	2.67M	6.6M	10.9M	17.3M	64.4M	69M	180M
Türkiye	1.04M	1.25M	4.34M	12.2M	45.7M	44.7M	126M
Japan	16.3M	45.1M	76.2M	109M	110M	51.1M	120M
United Kingdom	15.6M	25.6M	47.1M	70.4M	102M	30.2M	119M
Russia	–	–	–	17.7M	43.9M	62.4M	98.9M
Indonesia	826K	5.06M	9.22M	9.92M	59.4M	37.5M	97M
Brazil	3.34M	13M	19.1M	31.3M	74.6M	45.4M	95.4M
Spain	6.35M	15.1M	21.7M	39.7M	52.8M	26.6M	94.1M
United Arab Emirates	–	522K	1.69M	6.89M	44.9M	26.1M	91.1M
Canada	10.2M	22.5M	20.6M	41.8M	63.3M	27.6M	88.6M
Germany	6.5M	13M	22.1M	58M	97.3M	25.8M	80.2M
Mexico	2.97M	12.9M	14.3M	20.9M	31.3M	34.1M	78.8M
South Korea	1.21M	3.57M	15.7M	34.3M	37M	30M	76.3M
Australia	7.32M	13.6M	17.6M	32.6M	60.6M	23.3M	69M
France	9.11M	19.5M	36M	52.6M	60.9M	25M	64.6M
Hungary	282K	874K	1.36M	2.2M	12.5M	14.6M	55.6M
Vietnam	1.53M	6K	89K	2.88M	14.4M	31.8M	55.1M
Thailand	764K	2.46M	8.2M	17.4M	28.8M	28.2M	51.9M
Saudi Arabia	558K	9.24M	10.3M	12.6M	20.3M	21M	48M
Singapore	749K	3.83M	7.05M	16.7M	24.9M	7.88M	47.5M
Malaysia	749K	4.52M	10.2M	16.6M	34.2M	15.9M	46.7M
Austria	511K	1.28M	2.53M	6.64M	13.5M	13.3M	46M
Colombia	3.01M	4.81M	5.27M	8.57M	16.9M	12.3M	42.4M
Philippines	2.37M	3.25M	5.64M	5.76M	22.6M	10.6M	41.5M
Netherlands	2.88M	4.98M	8.56M	20.9M	27M	14.7M	41.4M
Qatar	–	522K	771K	2.67M	12.4M	10.6M	37.7M
Switzerland	3.4M	5.93M	8.6M	17.3M	22.1M	9.01M	27.7M
Chile	575K	669K	1.36M	5.17M	9.27M	8.02M	21.3M
Argentina	2.33M	5.59M	5.37M	8.92M	9.03M	3.68M	21.1M
Italy	6.74M	9.96M	19.8M	30.4M	32.6M	7.8M	20.3M
Sweden	2.55M	5.21M	11.4M	13.4M	41.2M	14.1M	19.6M
Greece	1.61M	4.89M	6.13M	7.94M	10.4M	5.65M	19.1M
Portugal	1.42M	1.98M	3.5M	6.72M	10.4M	6.22M	18.3M
Iran	716K	2M	5.63M	8.72M	18.8M	12.7M	18.1M
Peru	391K	1.98M	1.82M	1.6M	7.11M	5.71M	17.7M
Egypt	543K	2.03M	3.24M	4.52M	9.52M	4.64M	16.7M
Panama	307K	355K	266K	1.12M	5.52M	3.07M	15.8M
South Africa	1.52M	4.12M	5.36M	8M	15.8M	8.3M	15.5M
Ethiopia	232K	243K	620K	945K	3.35M	4.94M	15.3M
New Zealand	1.86M	3.5M	5.87M	10.8M	13.3M	8.52M	15M
Kazakhstan	–	–	–	461K	3.1M	5.28M	11.9M
Belgium	1.37M	1.97M	3.13M	10.7M	7.53M	3.52M	11.4M
Finland	1.28M	2.51M	4.45M	6.83M	8.69M	3.5M	10.8M
Kuwait	315K	1.08M	966K	2.11M	4.56M	1.82M	9.5M
Morocco	290K	947K	1.58M	3.67M	7.14M	3.01M	9.35M
Poland	904K	1.71M	1.5M	2.34M	4.1M	2.69M	8.78M
Oman	–	522K	853K	2.12M	3.26M	2.5M	8.7M
Israel	485K	1.48M	2M	4.44M	5.08M	1.25M	7.38M
Algeria	563K	2.95M	3.75M	3M	3.37M	1.46M	7.16M
Pakistan	1.34M	3.03M	5.18M	5.29M	6.59M	3.71M	7.15M
Bangladesh	–	614K	1.04M	1.33M	1.82M	2.98M	6.63M
Bahrain	241K	522K	771K	1.38M	6.03M	1.45M	5.73M
Bolivia	244K	1.34M	1.24M	1.76M	1.78M	2.63M	5.6M
Nigeria	173K	1.94M	965K	507K	4.2M	3.44M	5.27M
Kenya	172K	393K	794K	1.55M	4.04M	1.87M	5.14M
Uzbekistan	–	–	–	1.74M	2.11M	934K	4.85M
Ecuador	420K	701K	763K	1.32M	4.82M	1.15M	4.57M
Latvia	–	–	–	278K	3.16M	1.32M	4.48M
Iceland	458K	542K	760K	1.43M	1.85M	904K	4.34M
Nepal	203K	380K	679K	643K	918K	1.99M	4.29M
Tunisia	245K	978K	1.31M	1.91M	2.74M	1.38M	4.11M
Serbia	–	–	–	–	985K	795K	3.87M
Sri Lanka	105K	235K	892K	1.76M	3.01M	1.24M	3.87M
Iraq	198K	620K	702K	–	641K	765K	3.76M
Jordan	119K	1.11M	964K	1.28M	3.08M	816K	3.73M
Myanmar	346K	481K	319K	438K	924K	1.51M	3.54M
El Salvador	138K	265K	525K	1.96M	1.82M	805K	3.26M
Romania	453K	1.11M	1.32M	1.22M	3.73M	1.79M	2.81M
Lebanon	549K	930K	572K	806K	1.89M	1.08M	2.69M
Azerbaijan	–	–	–	546K	797K	545K	2.58M
Luxembourg	167K	162K	409K	871K	787K	753K	2.46M
Malta	128K	402K	598K	1.36M	1.7M	549K	2.39M
Czechia	1.17M	1.46M	1.1M	2.23M	5.15M	930K	2.18M
Togo	29.9K	64.6K	76.3K	77.3K	663K	321K	2.18M
Fiji	–	322K	433K	586K	1.26M	409K	2.15M
Trinidad & Tobago	361K	877K	1.29M	1.25M	1.84M	678K	2.03M
Costa Rica	256K	431K	467K	878K	1.7M	456K	1.97M
Tanzania	171K	388K	292K	193K	750K	824K	1.91M
Venezuela	1.25M	5.13M	6.85M	4.3M	6.43M	284K	1.78M
Croatia	–	–	–	1.07M	1.58M	608K	1.67M
Papua New Guinea	–	559K	931K	1.1M	1.41M	932K	1.55M
Rwanda	–	–	8.4K	–	188K	661K	1.54M
Mauritius	23K	83.7K	520K	949K	1.27M	407K	1.5M
Bahamas	–	345K	1.09M	1.86M	968K	1.27M	1.47M
Maldives	–	27K	9.4K	315K	–	293K	1.41M
Belarus	–	–	–	211K	652K	1.23M	1.32M
Angola	–	635K	452K	235K	1.01M	357K	1.32M
Armenia	–	–	–	298K	705K	54.9K	1.31M
Democratic Republic of the Congo	305K	439K	207K	–	211K	278K	1.15M
Libya	190K	1.17M	1.8M	601K	2.93M	715K	1.09M
Turkmenistan	–	–	–	1.28M	301K	1.08M	1.08M
Senegal	85.1K	113K	148K	97.5K	0	271K	1.07M
Afghanistan	84.7K	76.2K	241K	150K	2M	449K	1.03M
Dominican Republic	129K	466K	718K	–	19.2K	31.4K	996K
Sudan	125K	519K	454K	414K	580K	387K	911K
Laos	55.9K	13K	115K	211K	444K	387K	842K
Moldova	–	–	–	118K	479K	307K	828K
Brunei	–	–	307K	864K	1.26M	281K	821K
Kyrgyzstan	–	–	–	241K	376K	192K	804K
Belize	–	–	–	–	144K	971K	776K
Mongolia	–	–	–	254K	391K	144K	774K
Cyprus	107K	441K	814K	1.4M	1.58M	105K	724K
Bulgaria	989K	1.79M	1.91M	535K	802K	443K	724K
Côte d’Ivoire	109K	151K	200K	108K	516K	323K	716K
Tajikistan	–	–	–	168K	617K	260K	691K
Mozambique	–	282K	280K	260K	558K	328K	680K
Cambodia	40.5K	–	–	–	278K	610K	675K
Yemen	25.9K	310K	671K	842K	1.54M	52K	619K
Syria	139K	465K	613K	750K	1.16M	299K	611K
Ghana	117K	279K	188K	314K	169K	321K	441K
Honduras	296K	508K	610K	–	502K	–	428K
Paraguay	80.6K	129K	273K	266K	715K	132K	408K
Montenegro	–	–	–	–	659K	–	379K
Albania	–	–	–	137K	769K	125K	375K
Vanuatu	–	–	18.5K	102K	248K	136K	359K
Cameroon	65.8K	480K	284K	273K	0	40.9K	331K
Mauritania	84.5K	141K	223K	185K	525K	101K	329K
Zambia	188K	257K	407K	89.6K	261K	8.72K	322K
Georgia	–	–	–	118K	164K	72.9K	321K
Madagascar	168K	448K	424K	629K	524K	186K	313K
Seychelles	–	15K	242K	394K	413K	149K	237K
Guatemala	113K	119K	156K	–	314K	25.2K	221K
Bhutan	–	–	8K	34.4K	182K	48.8K	190K
Botswana	–	39K	101K	164K	290K	–	173K
Solomon Islands	–	42.4K	69.4K	75.3K	143K	139K	157K
Suriname	–	144K	133K	233K	215K	222K	150K
Republic of the Congo	55.8K	117K	239K	128K	342K	79.6K	147K
Cuba	874K	676K	1.14M	1.01M	1.58M	99.8K	137K
Equatorial Guinea	–	13.3K	14K	–	26K	139K	118K
Burkina Faso	30.1K	72.8K	137K	144K	160K	70.2K	104K
Zimbabwe	267K	412K	601K	608K	259K	324K	92.5K
Haiti	10.4K	0	0	–	–	23.1K	74.5K
Cape Verde	–	75K	177K	264K	571K	227K	71.8K
Namibia	–	–	–	247K	486K	62.3K	60.3K
Kiribati	–	–	24.9K	–	–	56.3K	58.9K
Samoa	–	–	–	164K	–	12K	42.1K
Nauru	–	–	–	–	30.2K	9.36K	39.1K
São Tomé & Príncipe	–	–	22.3K	35.1K	–	20.7K	38.8K
Eswatini	–	31K	52.9K	89.8K	–	10.6K	34.7K
Marshall Islands	–	–	66.4K	16.1K	–	25.6K	29.5K
Uganda	172K	82.6K	116K	39.4K	155K	4.95K	21.7K
Niger	54.7K	111K	76.3K	77.3K	0	–	5.78K
North Korea	165K	192K	223K	83K	73.1K	3.56K	3.69K
Malawi	51.7K	94K	120K	116K	91.5K	1.79K	3.51K
Antigua & Barbuda	–	–	755K	1.43M	1.55M	356	–
Bosnia & Herzegovina	–	–	–	69.1K	56.5K	1.59K	–
Barbados	–	45.5K	0	–	–	–	–
Burundi	–	11K	8.3K	–	–	–	–
Benin	29.5K	61.1K	76.3K	77.3K	53K	–	–
Central African Republic	69.5K	136K	130K	77.3K	–	–	–
Djibouti	–	62.5K	131K	–	–	–	–
Denmark	1.78M	3.33M	4.84M	5.92M	–	–	–
Estonia	–	–	–	278K	582K	–	–
Eritrea	–	–	–	–	–	45.1K	–
Gabon	120K	331K	398K	447K	244K	–	–
Gambia	–	–	–	–	0	–	–
Guinea	48.9K	80K	41.3K	–	–	–	–
Guinea-Bissau	–	22.2K	20.5K	–	–	–	–
Guyana	17.8K	27.5K	146K	73.3K	273K	18K	–
Jamaica	279K	723K	1M	1.92M	0	–	–
Comoros	–	–	26K	–	–	–	–
Liberia	–	10.6K	33.7K	–	–	–	–
Lesotho	–	36.3K	56K	–	–	–	–
Lithuania	–	–	–	284K	81.5K	35K	–
Monaco	–	44K	42.5K	82.8K	59.7K	–	–
North Macedonia	–	–	–	599K	–	–	–
Mali	39.2K	71K	–	77.3K	304K	–	–
Nicaragua	107K	115K	130K	61K	–	–	–
Norway	2.41M	4.8M	8.93M	15.2M	–	–	–
Slovenia	–	–	–	628K	980K	78.6K	–
Slovakia	–	–	–	57.1K	74.9K	2.67K	–
Sierra Leone	–	30K	30K	19K	0	–	–
Somalia	25.7K	90K	87.6K	–	164K	–	–
Chad	55.4K	106K	93.3K	77.3K	48.5K	–	–
Tonga	–	–	34.6K	51.6K	–	–	–
Ukraine	–	–	–	951K	3.96M	1.8M	–
Uruguay	219K	478K	318K	642K	–	–	–
Countries with data	114	139	148	155	157	151	147

Notes on reading this history

Yearly values come from the same World Bank indicator. The number of countries with data differs by year, so each year’s ranks are given only among the countries that have data that year. The ranking page uses each country’s latest year, so it may not match a single year’s ranking here.

Older years have fewer countries with data. See the “Countries with data” row in the table.

Source: Air transport, passengers carried, indicator IS.AIR.PSGR. Processed by this site. data.worldbank.org

World Bank data last updated: 2026-10-08