← All chart videos

The air travel race

See how airlines in ten countries navigated two decades of growth and a sudden shock.

About this chart

Airline passengers · millions · 2000–2023 · annual

Sources, method and credits

World Bank World Development Indicators, air transport passengers carried, based on ICAO statistics and staff estimates, updated 8 October 2026. Fixed cohort of the ten largest countries by 2023 passengers on airlines registered there, followed from 2000. Includes domestic and international flights; does not measure nationality or airport traffic. Figures may be revised. Animation interpolates between annual observations.

World Bank data: CC BY 4.0; illustrative background: Wikimedia Commons, CC0; country flags Flagcdn.

Original data source