211 Travel Insurance Statistics for 2026

How big is the US travel insurance market?

It is a multi-billion dollar market on the industry's own count, and spend has grown by almost half since 2019. The figures come from the US Travel Insurance Association's survey of its member insurers, so they cover those members and not every policy sold.

1. 1 Internet aggregators +49.4%
2. 2 Direct to consumer +46.6%
3. 3 Wholesale (cruise and tour operators) +42.9%
4. 4 Travel agents +22.8%

• The total value of US trips protected by travel insurance rose from $49 billion in 2019 to $68.04 billion in 2024, on the USTIA survey of its members. (USTIA (2022-2024 market study), Jun 2025)
• Trip cancellation and interruption packages were about 94.7% of total US consumer spend on travel protection in 2024. (USTIA (2022-2024 market study), Jun 2025)
• US consumer spend on travel protection stood at $810 million in 2002 and has risen to the 2024 total with a sharp dip in 2020 during the pandemic. (USTIA (2022-2024 market study), Jun 2025)
• From 2022 to 2024, US spend through direct-to-consumer sales grew 46.6%, through internet aggregators 49.4% and through wholesale markets (cruise and tour operators) 42.9%. (USTIA (2022-2024 market study), Jun 2025)
• Traditional travel agent distribution of US travel protection grew 22.8% to $762.8 million from 2022 to 2024. (USTIA (2022-2024 market study), Jun 2025)
• In 2022, Americans spent nearly $4.27 billion on travel protection, and around 77 million people were protected by more than 49.3 million plans from USTIA members. (USTIA (2020-2022 market study), Jun 2023)
• The number of people covered by USTIA members' plans in 2022 was more than 17% above 2019 and 10.7% above 2021. (USTIA (2020-2022 market study), Jun 2023)
• As of April 2026, 38 US states have enacted the NAIC Travel Insurance Model Act, which the NAIC adopted in December 2018. (NAIC (travel insurance topic page), Apr 2026)

USTIA figures are the US trade association's own survey of its member insurers. Consumer spend, people protected and trip value protected are three separate measures, and the 2022 and 2024 figures come from different waves of the study.

How big is the UK travel insurance market?

Millions of policies and more than a billion pounds a year, on the regulator's count. The Financial Conduct Authority collects these figures from insurers, and its value measures data leave out travel cover that comes with a packaged bank account.

View data table

Written premiums for the three UK travel insurance products in the FCA's value measures data, 2025.

Period	Value
Annual European	£290.8m
Annual worldwide	£427.6m
Single trip (stand-alone)	£572.6m

• There were over 6.8 million UK travel insurance policies in force in 2024, with consumers spending more than £1.2 billion; the FCA ranks travel as the eighth most common insurance product. (FCA (response to Which? super-complaint), Dec 2025)
• An average of 2.89 million annual European travel policies were in force in the UK in 2025 (2.18 million in 2024) and 2.78 million annual worldwide policies (1.79 million). (FCA (value measures 2025), Jul 2026)
• UK stand-alone single-trip policies in force rose 15% to 3.1 million in 2025; the FCA says the figure should be used with caution because these short policies make it volatile. (FCA (value measures 2025), Jul 2026)
• UK written premiums in 2025 were £290.8 million for annual European cover (£258.5 million in 2024), £427.6 million for annual worldwide (£350.3 million) and £572.6 million for stand-alone single-trip (£546.7 million). (FCA (value measures 2025), Jul 2026)
• In May 2024, 27% of UK adults held a multi-trip (annual) travel insurance policy and 23% had held a single-trip policy in the previous 12 months, against 28% and 25% in February 2020. (FCA (Financial Lives 2024), May 2025)
• 74% of UK adults who recently took out single-trip travel insurance had shopped around in 2024 (68% in 2022), and 67% of those who took out multi-trip cover (75% in 2022). (FCA (Financial Lives 2024), May 2025)
• 76% of UK multi-trip travel insurance renewers had never considered switching or were unsure, in the 2024 survey. (FCA (Financial Lives 2024), May 2025)
• UK travel insurance providers had a mean customer satisfaction score of 7.9 out of 10 in 2024, and 89% of multi-trip policyholders said they understood what their policy covered, 7 points more than in 2022. (FCA (response to Which? super-complaint), Dec 2025)

Policies in force are the average number over the year, not policies sold. The Financial Lives figures come from the FCA's survey of UK adults, so they describe all UK adults, including those who do not travel. Travel cover inside packaged bank accounts is not in the value measures data.

How many UK travel insurance claims are accepted?

More than four in five. Every travel product the regulator tracks had an acceptance rate above 83% in 2025, which is higher than home insurance and lower than motor.

View data table

Claims acceptance rate on UK annual worldwide travel insurance, 2022 to 2025, from the FCA's value measures data. Each year comes from the release for that year; the link is to the latest one.

Period	Value
2022	77.0%
2023	78.9%
2024	84.5%
2025	83.9%

• UK claims acceptance by product in 2025: annual European 85.5% (86.3% in 2024), annual worldwide 83.9% (84.5%) and single-trip stand-alone 83.1% (80.0%). (FCA (value measures 2025), Jul 2026)
• The same FCA release puts 2025 claims acceptance at 62-71% for UK home insurance and 99% for motor. (FCA (value measures 2025), Jul 2026)
• UK claims frequency in 2025 was 4.2% on annual European policies (5.1% in 2024), 6.5% on annual worldwide (7.3%) and 8.9% on single-trip stand-alone (11.2%). (FCA (value measures 2025), Jul 2026)
• On UK annual worldwide policies, the claims acceptance rate was 77.0% in 2022 and 78.9% in 2023. (FCA (value measures 2023), Aug 2024)
• 35% of UK multi-trip travel insurance claimants experienced a problem when making their most recent claim, against 40% for buildings and contents and 36% for motor, in the FCA's 2024 survey. (FCA (response to Which? super-complaint), Dec 2025)

The acceptance rate is the share of claims that insurers accept. Claims frequency is claims registered divided by policies in force. Neither says how much is paid, which is a separate value measure covered in the next section. Travel cover in packaged bank accounts is excluded.

How much do UK travel insurance claims pay out?

The average accepted claim paid a four-figure sum on all three travel products in 2025. Claims grew far faster than premiums that year, so insurers paid out a larger share of what they took in.

View data table

Share of premiums paid out in claims on UK annual worldwide travel insurance, 2022 to 2025, from the FCA's value measures data. Each year comes from the release for that year; the link is to the latest one.

Period	Value
2022	34.6%
2023	45.9%
2024	37.4%
2025	47.8%

• The average UK claims payout in 2025 was £1,389 on annual European policies (£1,176 in 2024), £1,573 on annual worldwide (£1,615) and £1,287 on single-trip stand-alone (£1,254). (FCA (value measures 2025), Jul 2026)
• Premiums for the three UK travel products rose 12% from 2024 to 2025 while the amount paid out in claims rose 47%. (FCA (value measures 2025), Jul 2026)
• By product, the share of UK premiums paid out in claims in 2025 was 44.0% for annual European (31.2% in 2024), 47.8% for annual worldwide (37.4%) and 44.3% for single-trip stand-alone (34.4%). (FCA (value measures 2025), Jul 2026)
• On UK annual worldwide policies, the average claims payout was £1,619 in 2022 and £1,492 in 2023. (FCA (value measures 2023), Aug 2024)
• On UK annual worldwide policies, 34.6% of premiums were paid out in claims in 2022 and 45.9% in 2023. (FCA (value measures 2023), Aug 2024)

The average payout is per accepted claim across all claim types. The share of premiums paid out in claims is a different measure from the acceptance rate and from the average payout, so each chart on this page shows one of them only.

How many people buy travel insurance?

It depends on who is asked and what they are asked. One US survey asks whether adults have ever bought cover, others ask about plans for a single summer, and the shares are not comparable.

1. 1 Gen Z 60%
2. 2 Millennials 54%
3. 3 Gen X 45%
4. 4 Boomers 43%

• 15% of American adults buy travel insurance for every trip, 21% have bought it for several trips and 14% for only one trip, in the Harris Poll survey for Aon. (Aon (Harris Poll survey 2025), Feb 2025)
• By generation, 60% of Gen Z and 54% of Millennials in the US say they have bought travel insurance, against 45% of Gen X and 43% of Boomers. (Aon (Harris Poll survey 2025), Feb 2025)
• 53% of American men have bought travel insurance, against 47% of women. (Aon (Harris Poll survey 2025), Feb 2025)
• Among Americans who have bought travel insurance, 41% did so to avoid losing money if they had to cancel and 39% because of unexpected issues before departure after booking months ahead. (Aon (Harris Poll survey 2025), Feb 2025)
• Other reasons US buyers gave: worry about getting sick and being unable to travel 28%, bad weather 26%, travelling abroad and needing supplemental medical coverage 22%, economic uncertainty 21% and global conflicts 19%. (Aon (Harris Poll survey 2025), Feb 2025)

The Aon figures come from an online Harris Poll of more than 2,000 US adults aged 18 and over and count anyone who has ever purchased travel insurance. The surveys below ask different people a different question, so their shares are not comparable with Aon's or with each other. All of them were commissioned by firms that sell or administer travel insurance.

How much does travel insurance cost?

A few hundred dollars for a typical US policy, rising with age and trip cost. The price figures are one comparison site's own sales, so they describe its customers and not the whole market.

View data table

Average travel insurance premium by generation among Squaremouth customers over the 12 months to November 2026. The figures are the firm's own sales, not a market average.

Period	Value
Gen Z	$211
Millennials	$187
Gen X	$274
Baby Boomers	$457
Silent Generation	$709

• Squaremouth puts its average policy at about $21 per day of travel; plans that include trip cancellation averaged $456 ($35 a day) and medical-only plans $87 ($5 a day) over the 12 months to November 2026. (Squaremouth (cost page 2026), Nov 2026)
• Average insured trip cost among Squaremouth customers by generation: Gen Z $7,780, Millennials $6,641, Gen X $7,611, Baby Boomers $8,388 and the Silent Generation $8,513. (Squaremouth (cost page 2026), Nov 2026)
• The average insured summer 2026 trip on Squaremouth cost $9,032 per person, up 17.4% year over year, which the firm calls the highest in its 23 years of price tracking. (Squaremouth (Q2 2026 trends report), Sep 2026)
• Uptake of Cancel For Any Reason cover among Squaremouth customers insuring trips of $20,000 or more rose from 10% to 19% in a year. (Squaremouth (Q2 2026 trends report), Sep 2026)
• In the first quarter of 2026, 34% of Squaremouth customers bought medical-only travel insurance and skipped trip cancellation cover; the firm says it was the first time since 2019 that more than 30% opted out. (Squaremouth (Q1 2026 trends report), 2026)
• Squaremouth counted 35% of cruisers, 67% of senior travellers and 88% of adventure travellers as underinsured in early 2026, and 95% of its customers heading to the Middle East did not buy non-medical evacuation cover. (Squaremouth (Q1 2026 trends report), 2026)
• After the 2020 pandemic shutdown, 95% of policies bought through Squaremouth for 2021 trips included trip cancellation cover, against a usual 80-90%, and Cancel For Any Reason purchases for 2021 trips were up over 200% on a normal year. (Squaremouth (Dec 2020 release), Dec 2020)
• Trip insurance policies with cancellation cover can cost up to 8% of the trip cost where cancellation is for a listed reason, and up to 15% for cancel-for-any-reason cover, on CDC guidance for US travellers. (CDC (Yellow Book 2026), Apr 2025)

Squaremouth is a US comparison site and every Squaremouth figure here is its own quote and sales data. The CDC percentages are upper bounds from its guidance for clinicians and travellers, not average prices.

What do travellers claim for most?

Cancellation and medical care lead in each dataset here, in a different order each time. Every breakdown is one firm's own claims, and the mix depends on what that firm sells.

1. 1 Emergency medical 27%
2. 2 Trip cancellation 26%
3. 3 Travel delay 15%
4. 4 Trip interruption 11%
5. 5 Missed connection 10%
6. 6 Cancel For Any Reason 6%
7. 7 Baggage loss 4%
8. 8 Baggage delay 4%

• Emergency medical made up 27% of the claims paid in 2024 by Tin Leg, the US insurer owned by Squaremouth Group, ahead of trip cancellation at 26% and travel delay at 15%. (Squaremouth (2024 claims release), Jan 2025)
• The average payout across Tin Leg claims rose from $1,900 in 2023 to $2,609 in 2024, and the number of paid claims rose 18%. (Squaremouth (2024 claims release), Jan 2025)
• In 2023, trip cancellation was the most commonly paid Tin Leg claim at 25%, with an average payment near $5,000, and emergency medical made up 24% of paid claims. (Squaremouth (2023 claims release), Mar 2024)
• Paid Tin Leg claims rose 30% in 2023, and the average reimbursement was 6 times the average policy cost. (Squaremouth (2023 claims release), Mar 2024)
• The average trip cancellation claim payout is roughly $5,353 on Squaremouth's own data; the page does not state the period. (Squaremouth (cost page 2026), Nov 2026)
• Of the claims US administrator Aon Affinity received in 2023, 71% were for trip cancellation, 11% for trip delay, 8% for trip interruption and 7% for medical reasons. (Aon (2023 claims by reason), Sep 2024)

Tin Leg counts claims it paid and Aon counts claims its customers submitted, so the two US breakdowns are not comparable. Squaremouth's 2024 average payouts by claim type are left out because its table and its text disagree.

How much does medical care abroad cost?

From a few thousand pounds for a routine claim to six figures for an air ambulance. The figures come from public health guidance and from individual insurers' own claims, so each describes that source's cases only.

1. 1 United States £8,622
2. 2 Canada £7,823
3. 3 Mexico £4,827
4. 4 Worldwide average £4,337

• Aviva's average medical claim was £7,823 in Canada and £4,827 in Mexico in 2025, and the insurer says serious medical assistance claims can reach £500,000. (Aviva (2025 medical claims), Jun 2026)
• Infection or fever, the most common medical assistance claim in Aviva's 2025 data, cost £3,833 on average in the United States, £2,600 in Mexico, £3,314 in Canada and £2,316 worldwide. (Aviva (2025 medical claims), Jun 2026)
• A lower limb injury cost Aviva's UK customers £8,740 on average in the United States, £4,800 in Mexico, £8,828 in Canada and £4,595 worldwide in 2025. (Aviva (2025 medical claims), Jun 2026)
• A respiratory condition such as bronchitis cost Aviva's UK customers £13,478 on average in the United States, £2,717 in Mexico, £21,782 in Canada and £5,841 worldwide in 2025. (Aviva (2025 medical claims), Jun 2026)
• Treatment for stomach-related illness abroad cost Aviva's UK travel customers £4,095 on average in 2025: £11,881 in the USA, £4,644 in Spain, £3,211 in Greece, £3,184 in Canada and £2,763 in Cyprus. (Aviva (2025 stomach illness claims), Jul 2026)
• Aviva's average winter sports medical claim by injury: broken leg £2,778, broken arm £1,586, head injury £3,672 and back injury £2,410. (Aviva (winter sports claims), Nov 2025)
• Aviva's average winter sports medical claim by country: Andorra and the USA £10,648, Canada £8,651, Austria £3,143, Italy £2,705 and Switzerland £2,160. (Aviva (winter sports claims), Nov 2025)
• Staysure's UK customers needed 37 air ambulance repatriations in 2024 at an average of £58,012; the maximum single air ambulance cost in its table was £192,212. (Staysure (repatriation data), May 2025)
• From Spain, 33 Staysure air ambulance flights averaged £45,137 in 2024 (28 flights averaging £39,051 in 2023); from the USA, 3 flights averaged £159,675 (3 flights averaging £97,115 in 2023). (Staysure (repatriation data), May 2025)
• Medicare supplement (Medigap) plans may cover emergency care abroad only if it begins in the first 60 days of a trip, paying 80% of billed charges after a $250 yearly deductible, with a $50,000 lifetime maximum. (CDC (Yellow Book 2026), Apr 2025)
• The CDC's page for travellers says a medical evacuation could otherwise cost more than $100,000. (CDC (Travelers' Health), May 2026)

Aviva and Staysure figures are each insurer's own claims from UK customers. Staysure's USA averages rest on three flights a year, and £192,212 is the maximum single case in its 2024 table, not an average. The CDC figures are guidance for US travellers. Nothing here is advice on whether to buy cover or which policy to choose.

How many travellers need medical or consular help abroad?

Thousands of British nationals a year need consular help with a hospital stay or a death abroad. The counts are cases handled by the Foreign Office, and they include people who live abroad as well as holidaymakers, so they are not risk rates.

1. 1 Spain 706
2. 2 Greece 387
3. 3 Thailand 223
4. 4 France 204
5. 5 Turkey 165
6. 6 Portugal 104
7. 7 Italy 87
8. 8 United States 72

• In 2024 the FCDO also handled 1,755 health cases and 1,170 repatriation cases, took 231,061 consular calls and issued 25,848 emergency travel documents. (FCDO (consular data 2024), Jun 2025)
• Spain accounted for 1,769 FCDO death cases, 706 medical care facility cases and 369 repatriation cases in 2024. (FCDO (consular data 2024), Jun 2025)
• FCDO cases in 2024 (deaths, medical care facility, repatriation): Thailand 691, 223 and 22; Greece 248, 387 and 93; France 279, 204 and 52. (FCDO (consular data 2024), Jun 2025)
• FCDO cases in 2024 (deaths, medical care facility, repatriation): United States 202, 72 and 31; Turkey 178, 165 and 41; Italy 135, 87 and 62; Portugal 114, 104 and fewer than 5. (FCDO (consular data 2024), Jun 2025)

FCDO figures count consular assistance cases, not people, and cover British nationals abroad including residents. The health agency figures below cover different countries, diseases and years, and the Australian counts use different definitions from the UK ones.

How often are US flights cancelled or delayed?

Between one and three flights in a hundred are cancelled in a normal year, and about a fifth arrive late. The figures cover domestic flights by the large US carriers that report to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, and a delay means 15 minutes or more.

View data table

Share of domestic flights cancelled by large US reporting carriers, full calendar years 2019 to 2025, on Bureau of Transportation Statistics data.

Period	Value
2019	1.82%
2020	5.99%
2021	1.72%
2022	2.69%
2023	1.28%
2024	1.36%
2025	1.47%

• Large US carriers cancelled 1.82% of domestic flights in 2019 (134,925 flights) and 5.99% in 2020 (281,034), the year the pandemic began. (BTS (TranStats, annual), Nov 2026)
• The full-year US cancellation rate was 1.72% in 2021, 2.69% in 2022 (181,286 flights), 1.28% in 2023 (87,943) and 1.36% in 2024 (96,315). (BTS (TranStats, annual), Nov 2026)
• Full-year on-time arrivals for large US carriers were 79.21% in 2019, 76.61% in 2022, 78.22% in 2023, 77.91% in 2024 and 76.34% in 2025. (BTS (TranStats, annual), Nov 2026)
• In January-August 2026, 2.20% of US flights were cancelled (103,925 of 4,728,732 operations), against 1.57% in the same months of 2025 and 1.69% in 2024. (BTS (TranStats, January-August), Nov 2026)
• January-August cancellation rates in earlier years were 1.50% in 2017, 1.88% in 2018, 2.21% in 2019, 8.28% in 2020, 1.79% in 2021, 2.91% in 2022 and 1.66% in 2023. (BTS (TranStats, January-August), Nov 2026)
• The share of US flights arriving 15 minutes or more late in January-August was 19.95% in 2019, 21.16% in 2022, 22.52% in 2023, 22.74% in 2024, 22.48% in 2025 and 22.96% in 2026. (BTS (TranStats, January-August), Nov 2026)
• The January-August on-time arrival rate for large US carriers was 74.50% in 2026, against 77.55% in 2019. (BTS (TranStats, January-August), Nov 2026)
• Monthly US cancellation rates in 2025 included 3.02% in January, 2.45% in July, 2.49% in November, 0.51% in September and 0.53% in October. (BTS (TranStats, 2025 by month), Nov 2026)
• The share of US flights delayed peaked in July 2025 at 28.03%, with June at 27.70%. (BTS (TranStats, 2025 by month), Nov 2026)

BTS counts domestic flights operated by large US reporting carriers. A flight is delayed if it arrives at or departs the gate 15 minutes or more after schedule. The January-August figures cover the same eight months of each year and are not full-year rates. BTS data was read on 14 November 2026 and is updated monthly.

How often are UK and European flights cancelled or delayed?

About one UK flight in a hundred was cancelled in 2025, and punctuality improved for a second year. The UK figures cover flights at 25 reporting airports and the European figures cover the whole EUROCONTROL network, so neither can be set against the other or against the US data.

1. 1 Liverpool 80.9%
2. 2 Glasgow 77.3%
3. 3 Heathrow 76.7%
4. 4 Luton 73.4%
5. 5 Edinburgh 71.4%
6. 6 Bristol 70.3%
7. 7 Gatwick 69.8%
8. 8 Stansted 69.7%
9. 9 Birmingham 68.0%
10. 10 Manchester 64.5%

• At the UK's reporting airports in 2025, 72.7% of flights were on time (within 15 minutes) against 66.9% in 2024; the average delay was 15.1 minutes against 18.7, and 1.04% of 1,930,928 flights were cancelled against 1.42%. (UK CAA (punctuality statistics 2025), Mar 2026)
• In 2023, 1.77% of flights at UK reporting airports were cancelled, 63.7% were on time and the average delay was 20.8 minutes. (UK CAA (punctuality statistics 2024), 2025)
• Average delay per flight in 2025 was 12.8 minutes at Heathrow, 16.8 at Gatwick, 19.8 at Manchester, 16.3 at Stansted, 15.1 at Luton, 15.3 at Edinburgh, 17.8 at Birmingham, 16.2 at Bristol, 12.1 at Glasgow and 11.1 at Liverpool. (UK CAA (punctuality statistics 2025), Mar 2026)
• Flights cancelled in 2025: Heathrow 1.32%, Gatwick 0.82%, Manchester 0.96%, Stansted 0.31%, Luton 0.35%, Edinburgh 1.08%, Birmingham 0.94%, Bristol 0.61%, Glasgow 1.76% and Liverpool 0.79%. (UK CAA (punctuality statistics 2025), Mar 2026)
• On-time shares at UK airports in 2025 by airline: British Airways Group 76.7%, easyJet Europe Group 72.5%, Ryanair Group 70.1%, Jet2.com 67.4%, TUI Airways 59.2%, Virgin Group 81.4%, Loganair 78.5% and Aer Lingus Group 73.7%. (UK CAA (punctuality statistics 2025), Mar 2026)
• Flights cancelled at UK airports in 2025 by airline: British Airways Group 1.23%, easyJet Europe Group 0.79%, Ryanair Group 0.27%, Jet2.com 0.18%, TUI Airways 0.14%, Virgin Group 1.36%, Loganair 3.07% and Aer Lingus Group 2.54%. (UK CAA (punctuality statistics 2025), Mar 2026)
• A record 302 million passengers passed through UK airports in 2025, the CAA says, up 2% from 295 million in 2024. (UK CAA (2025 passenger numbers release), Feb 2026)

CAA punctuality figures cover arrivals and departures by all airlines at 25 selected UK airports, with on time meaning within 15 minutes. The airline figures cover each airline's flights at those UK airports only, not its whole network.

How often do airlines lose or delay bags?

Far less often than they used to, on the industry's own benchmark. SITA counts mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers across airlines worldwide, and most mishandled bags are delayed, not lost.

• Delayed 74%
• Damaged or pilfered 18%
• Lost or stolen 8%

• The global mishandled baggage rate fell 23% in 2025 and has fallen by close to three-quarters since 2007. (SITA (2026 baggage report), Jun 2026)
• Mishandled baggage costs the global air industry $6.3 billion a year, an average of $260 per bag, and delayed bags make up around 70% of that cost. (SITA (2026 baggage report), Jun 2026)
• Transfers caused 39% of baggage mishandling cases worldwide in 2025, fewer than the year before. (SITA (2026 baggage report), Jun 2026)
• The global mishandling rate was 6.3 bags per 1,000 passengers in 2024, down from 6.9 in 2023. (SITA (2025 baggage report), Jun 2025)
• In 2022 the global rate was 7.6 mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers. (SITA (2024 baggage report), Jun 2024)
• 33.4 million bags were mishandled worldwide in 2024, of which over 66% (22 million) were resolved within 48 hours. (SITA (2025 baggage report), Jun 2025)
• Causes of mishandled bags in 2024: transfer mishandling 41% (46% in 2023), tagging or ticketing errors, security issues and similar 17%, loading failures 16% and operational issues such as customs, weather or capacity 10%. (SITA (2025 baggage report), Jun 2025)

SITA figures are a global benchmark for all airlines, drawn from its baggage tracing system and industry surveys. The cost is SITA's estimate of the cost to airlines, not what passengers or insurers pay. SITA's own page does not print a rate per 1,000 passengers for 2025.

How many people complain about travel insurance in the UK?

Tens of thousands complain to their insurer every half-year, and a few thousand a year take the dispute to the ombudsman. The two counts sit at different stages of the complaints process and should not be added together.

View data table

Complaints about travel insurance received by UK financial firms in each half-year, from the FCA's aggregate complaints table. These are complaints to firms, not ombudsman cases.

Period	Value
2024 H2	29,280
2025 H1	27,813
2025 H2	33,406
2026 H1	42,215

• UK financial firms received 33,406 complaints about travel insurance in the second half of 2025, after 27,813 in the first half of 2025 and 29,280 in the second half of 2024. (FCA (aggregate complaints data 2025 H2), Apr 2026)
• The same FCA table shows 42,215 complaints about travel insurance to UK firms in the first half of 2026. (FCA (aggregate complaints data 2025 H2), Apr 2026)
• Complaints about claims were 5-6% of claims registered for UK travel insurance in 2025, against 7-13% for home insurance; most other retail products fall between 0-6%. (FCA (value measures 2025), Jul 2026)
• By product, UK claim complaints as a share of claims in 2025 were 5.9% for annual European (4.2% in 2024), 5.6% for annual worldwide (4.9%) and 4.6% for single-trip stand-alone (3.8%). (FCA (value measures 2025), Jul 2026)

The FCA aggregate data counts complaints that consumers open with firms. The value measures figure divides complaints about claims by claims registered. The Financial Ombudsman Service counts complaints referred to it after a firm's own process, and its uphold rate is the share of cases resolved in the period that it found in the complainant's favour.

How many Americans and Britons travel abroad?

More than 100 million trips a year leave the US and close to 100 million visits abroad are made from the UK. Both are counts of trips, so a person who travels twice is counted twice.

• Overseas 53.8m
• Mexico 39.9m
• Canada 14.1m

• US resident outbound travellers totalled 107.7 million in 2024, up 9.2% from 2023 and 8.0% above the previous 2019 high of 99.7 million; the NTTO calls the total record-breaking. (NTTO (US outbound travel 2024), Sep 2025)
• Of US outbound travel in 2024, 39.9 million trips went to Mexico, 14.1 million to Canada and 53.8 million overseas. (NTTO (US outbound travel 2024), Sep 2025)
• The average US overseas traveller in 2024 had a household income of $163,000, stayed 15.3 nights abroad, spent $1,907 outside the US and started planning 109 days before departure. (NTTO (US outbound travel 2024), Sep 2025)
• The main purpose of US overseas trips in 2024 was a holiday for 61% of travellers, visiting friends or relatives for 27% and business for 5%. (NTTO (US outbound travel 2024), Sep 2025)
• The top overseas countries visited by US residents in 2024 were the United Kingdom (6.0 million), Italy (4.2 million), France (4.1 million), the Dominican Republic (3.7 million) and Spain (3.1 million). (NTTO (US outbound travel 2024), Sep 2025)
• The top states of residence for US overseas travellers in 2024 were California (7.7 million), New York (6.0 million), Florida (5.3 million), Texas (3.7 million) and New Jersey (3.1 million). (NTTO (US outbound travel 2024), Sep 2025)
• US citizen air passenger departures to foreign countries totalled 6.9 million in December 2025, up 3.2% from December 2024 and 30.3% above December 2019. (NTTO (air passenger travel, December 2025), Jan 2026)
• 20.2 million US residents travelled to foreign destinations by air in July-September 2025, up 4.5% on a year earlier: 15.4 million overseas, 2.9 million to Mexico and 1.9 million to Canada. (NTTO (air traveller survey Q3 2025), Mar 2026)
• US residents' overseas air trips in July-September 2025 lasted 15.8 days on average, with average spending of $1,927 per trip. (NTTO (air traveller survey Q3 2025), Mar 2026)
• 12.3 million international visitors travelled to the United States by air in July-September 2025 (9.6 million from overseas, 1.7 million from Canada and 968,000 from Mexico), down 5.7% on a year earlier. (NTTO (air traveller survey Q3 2025), Mar 2026)
• The UK was the top overseas source of air visitors to the US in July-September 2025 with 1.2 million; overseas visitors stayed 17.8 days and spent $1,951 per trip on average. (NTTO (air traveller survey Q3 2025), Mar 2026)
• US citizen international departures by all modes totalled 10,234,242 in August 2025, up 4.4% on August 2024 and 108.4% of the August 2019 total; Mexico received 3,424,397 (33.5%) and Europe 2,467,679 (24.1%). (NTTO (travel volume, August 2025), Feb 2026)
• Americans spent more than $23.2 billion travelling abroad in December 2025, against more than $21.3 billion spent by international visitors in the US, a $1.9 billion travel trade deficit for the month. (NTTO (visitor spending, December 2025), Mar 2026)

NTTO is the US National Travel and Tourism Office. Its annual figures count trips by US residents, its air figures count air travel only, and its monthly figures cover a single month and should not be summed into an annual total. The traveller profile describes US overseas travellers.

How much do people travel worldwide?

International travel kept growing in 2025 and then slowed sharply in the first half of 2026, on UN Tourism's estimates. The counts below are arrivals, air passengers, cruise guests and trips, each from a different body and each measured its own way.

1. 1 Europe 793m+4% on 2024, +6% on 2019
2. 2 Asia and the Pacific 331m+6% on 2024, 9% below 2019
3. 3 The Americas 218m+1% on 2024

• An estimated 1.52 billion international tourist arrivals were recorded worldwide in 2025, up 4% and almost 60 million more than in 2024, with receipts of an estimated $1.9 trillion, up 5%, on preliminary figures. (UN Tourism (Barometer, January 2026), Jan 2026)
• International tourism spending by US residents rose 8% in 2025, on the same UN Tourism release. (UN Tourism (Barometer, January 2026), Jan 2026)
• An estimated 690 million international tourist trips were made in January-June 2026, up 0.4% year on year, while arrivals in the Middle East fell 22% amid the regional conflict. (UN Tourism (Barometer, September 2026), Sep 2026)
• UN Tourism now forecasts growth of 1-2% in international arrivals for 2026, down from its January forecast of 3-4%. (UN Tourism (Barometer, September 2026), Sep 2026)
• The biggest air passenger markets in 2025 on IATA's count were the United States (890.1 million, +1.6%), China (776.1 million, +4.8%), the United Kingdom (269.7 million, +3.4%), Spain (252.7 million, +5.0%) and Japan (223.5 million, +9.2%). (IATA (World Air Transport Statistics 2025), Jul 2026)
• The next five air passenger markets in 2025 were India (218.2 million), Italy (187.3 million), Germany (163.8 million), France (152.6 million) and Turkiye (129.3 million). (IATA (World Air Transport Statistics 2025), Jul 2026)
• Global air passenger demand, measured in revenue passenger kilometres, rose 5.3% in 2025 (international +7.1%, domestic +2.4%), and IATA reports a record full-year load factor of 83.6%. (IATA (2025 passenger demand release), Jan 2026)
• A record 37.3 million ocean-going cruise passengers sailed worldwide in 2025, CLIA says, up 7.7% from 2024; the United States supplied 20.6 million (about 55%), Germany 2.8 million and the UK and Ireland 2.5 million. (CLIA (2025 Global Market Report), May 2026)
• The average ocean cruise passenger was 46.7 years old in 2025 (46.5 in 2024); 34% were over 60 and 35% under 40, the average cruise lasted 7.0 days, and the Caribbean received 44% of passengers (over 16 million) against more than 9 million for Europe. (CLIA (2025 Global Market Report), May 2026)

UN Tourism counts overnight international arrivals, which are trips and not people, and its 2025 figures are preliminary. IATA counts passengers at both ends of a journey, including domestic flights. CLIA is the cruise industry's trade association. The 2026 growth figure is a UN Tourism forecast made in September 2026.

Methodology and sources

Every figure on this page comes from a primary source: a regulator, a statistics office, a health agency, an ombudsman, a trade body or a firm publishing its own data. Each figure is linked to that source with the date of the release. Figures from different producers are kept apart and never added together, and each chart shows one measure from one source. Data from Squaremouth, Tin Leg, Aon, Aviva, Staysure and Multitrip.com is labelled as that firm's own customers or claims, and surveys paid for by insurers are labelled with who ran them and who was asked. Where a source prints a range we copy the range and say what it spans. Forecasts are labelled as forecasts. We left out UK trade association claims totals, US government baggage rates and US passport counts because the source pages could not be opened, Squaremouth's 2024 average payouts by claim type because its table and text disagree, one winter sports injury figure that differs between an insurer's table and text, and any figure that appears only in press coverage. Nothing here is advice on whether to buy travel insurance or which policy to choose. The page is reviewed monthly.

• Allianz Partners (European summer index 2025) · Jun 2025
• Allianz Partners USA (summer 2026 concerns survey) · Jun 2026
• Allianz Partners USA (summer 2026 insurance survey) · Jul 2026
• Aon (2023 claims by reason) · Sep 2024
• Aon (Harris Poll survey 2025) · Feb 2025
• Aviva (2024 cancellation claims) · Jan 2025
• Aviva (2025 medical claims) · Jun 2026
• Aviva (2025 stomach illness claims) · Jul 2026
• Aviva (winter sports claims) · Nov 2025
• BTS (TranStats, annual) · Nov 2026
• BTS (TranStats, January-August) · Nov 2026
• CDC (MMWR dengue report) · May 2026
• CDC (Travelers' Health) · May 2026
• CDC (Yellow Book 2026) · Apr 2025
• CDC (Yellow Book 2026) · Apr 2025
• CDC (Yellow Book 2026) · Mar 2026
• CDC (Yellow Book 2026) · Apr 2025
• CDC (Yellow Book 2026) · Apr 2025
• CLIA (2025 Global Market Report) · May 2026
• DFAT (Consular State of Play 2024-25) · Feb 2026
• EIOPA (travel insurance review 2019) · Oct 2019
• EUROCONTROL (Performance Review Report 2025) · Mar 2026
• European Commission (EHIC news, June 2024) · Jun 2024
• European Union (Your Europe, air passenger rights) · Sep 2026
• Eurostat (EU residents' trips 2025) · Oct 2026
• Eurostat (participation in tourism 2024) · Oct 2025
• FCA (aggregate complaints data 2025 H2) · Apr 2026
• FCA (Financial Lives 2024) · May 2025
• FCA (response to Which? super-complaint) · Dec 2025
• FCA (value measures 2023) · Aug 2024
• FCA (value measures 2025) · Jul 2026
• FCDO (consular data 2024) · Jun 2025
• Financial Ombudsman Service (2023/24 release) · Jul 2024
• Financial Ombudsman Service (annual data 2024/25) · Jul 2025
• Financial Ombudsman Service (Covid-19 complaints data) · Aug 2020
• Financial Ombudsman Service (May 2026 release) · May 2026
• Financial Ombudsman Service (Ombudsman News 161) · May 2021
• Financial Ombudsman Service (quarterly data Q1 2024/25) · Aug 2024
• Financial Ombudsman Service (quarterly data Q1 2025/26) · Aug 2025
• Financial Ombudsman Service (quarterly data Q1 2026/27) · Jul 2026
• Financial Ombudsman Service (quarterly data Q2 2024/25) · Nov 2024
• Financial Ombudsman Service (quarterly data Q2 2025/26) · Oct 2025
• Financial Ombudsman Service (quarterly data Q3 2024/25) · Mar 2025
• Financial Ombudsman Service (quarterly data Q3 2025/26) · Feb 2026
• Financial Ombudsman Service (quarterly data Q4 2024/25) · Jul 2025
• IATA (2025 passenger demand release) · Jan 2026
• IATA (World Air Transport Statistics 2025) · Jul 2026
• Ipsos for Allianz Partners (10-country survey 2026) · May 2026
• Leggat and Leggat (Journal of Travel Medicine) · Mar 2002
• legislation.gov.uk (Regulation 261/2004, Article 7) · Nov 2026
• Multitrip.com (claims Oct 2024-Oct 2025) · Apr 2026
• NAIC (travel insurance topic page) · Apr 2026
• NTTO (air passenger travel, December 2025) · Jan 2026
• NTTO (air traveller survey Q3 2025) · Mar 2026
• NTTO (travel volume, August 2025) · Feb 2026
• NTTO (US outbound travel 2024) · Sep 2025
• NTTO (visitor spending, December 2025) · Mar 2026
• ONS (Travel trends 2019-2023) · May 2024
• ONS (Travel trends 2025) · Oct 2026
• SITA (2024 baggage report) · Jun 2024
• SITA (2025 baggage report) · Jun 2025
• SITA (2026 baggage report) · Jun 2026
• Squaremouth (2023 claims release) · Mar 2024
• Squaremouth (2024 claims release) · Jan 2025
• Squaremouth (cost page 2026) · Nov 2026
• Squaremouth (Dec 2020 release) · Dec 2020
• Squaremouth (Q1 2026 trends report) · 2026
• Squaremouth (Q2 2026 trends report) · Sep 2026
• Staysure (repatriation data) · May 2025
• UK CAA (2025 passenger numbers release) · Feb 2026
• UK CAA (Air Travel Trust report 2025) · 2025
• UK CAA (passenger complaints FY25) · May 2026
• UK CAA (punctuality statistics 2024) · 2025
• UK CAA (punctuality statistics 2025) · Mar 2026
• UKHSA (imported malaria 2023) · Dec 2024
• UKHSA (travel infections 2024) · Mar 2025
• UKHSA (travel infections 2025) · Mar 2026
• UN Tourism (Barometer, January 2026) · Jan 2026
• UN Tourism (Barometer, September 2026) · Sep 2026
• US DOT (refunds rule, Federal Register) · Apr 2024
• USTIA (2020-2022 market study) · Jun 2023
• USTIA (2022-2024 market study) · Jun 2025