Duty free and travel retail industry - statistics & facts
The duty-free and travel retail industry has staged a steady recovery since the pandemic, with global sales estimated at 76.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2025, still trailing the pre-pandemic peak of 86.4 billion U.S. dollars recorded in 2019. Rising passenger volumes are the main driver of this recovery. In 2024, the global airline industry boarded approximately 4.8 billion passengers, surpassing the previous record of 4.5 billion set in 2019.
