Airbnb Statistics [2024]: User & Market Growth Data

Airbnb is one of the world’s most visited travel and tourism websites.

And for good reason…

When Airbnb burst onto the scene in 2007, it had a significant impact on the market – both positive and negative.

Now the platform has grown to 7.7+ million global active listings and 5+ million hosts worldwide.

All of this is powered by their massive 150+ million guest user base. The truth is that Airbnb is no small operation. And it’s not going to slow down any time soon.

These Airbnb statistics detail:

Airbnb Key Statistics 2024

Airbnb is a big platform operating in 191 different countries.

These are the important Airbnb statistics to know:

Airbnb Statistics By Region

Airbnb has experienced a lot of changes over the last few years.

While total listings on Airbnb have decreased globally (7.7 million active listings as of February 2024), the demand for Airbnb stays has increased significantly. These are the Airbnb statistics by region that you need to know.

Airbnb Listings Per Region

Listings per region on Airbnb declined from 2020 to 2021.

Globally in 2021, there were a total of 12.7 million listings.

This is down from 2020, when the total number of listings was 14.13 million. That’s a 10.12% reduction from 2020 to 2021.

The following Airbnb statistics show the breakdown of total listings by region:

Europe had the most listings overall, with 4.84 million in 2021. Asia Pacific came in second with 2.21 million and North America in third with 2.55 million.

Although Europe has had the most listings over the last two years on Airbnb, they have experienced the most considerable decrease across all regions. From 2020 to 2021, there was a decrease of 11.38%.

Why was there a decrease globally in Airbnb listings?

A study by LendingTree showed that COVID-19 restrictions were the most significant factor contributing to Airbnb hosts taking their listings offline.

Indeed, the pandemic laws were too complicated or weren’t worth it for hosts to continue during that time.

Demands Per Region

What about the demand per region?

“Demand” is calculated by the total number of nights stayed in each region.

Even though total listings dropped in each region, demand for Airbnbs around the globe increased significantly.

In 2020 there were 251.12 million total nights stayed in Airbnbs worldwide.

In 2021 there was a significant increase to 356.85 million nights stayed. By percentage, that’s a 42.1% increase.

This number keeps increasing with 393.7 million nights stayed in 2022, which represents a 31% increase compared to the prior year.

Here are the latest Airbnb statistics on nights stayed by region:

Europe comes first in 2021, with total nights stayed in Airbnbs reaching 144.76 million.

What’s interesting is that North America ranked third for a total number of Airbnb listings but ranked a very comfortable second for nights stayed.

It’s more than double the next region which is Asia Pacific.

But the biggest growth in nights stayed was Latin America. In 2020 there were 26.99 million nights stayed and in 2021, there were 41.99 million.

That’s a total increase of over 55.5% in growth.

Latin America generally had far fewer COVID-19 restrictions than other regions in 2021, which likely contributed to the demand for Airbnbs increasing with the influx of tourism.

Spending on the Airbnb platform in Latin America reached $8.1 billion in 2021, which was a 41.9% increase from 2019. That’s a big jump.

Gross Revenue Per Region

Globally gross revenue from Airbnbs increased significantly from $27.69 billion in 2020 to $48.9 billion in 2021.

That’s a massive 76.62% increase in earnings by Airbnb hosts.

“Gross revenue” is the total revenue made from all stays booked on the platform.

This is the complete breakdown by region:

Every region experienced significant growth from 2020 to 2021.

North America had the biggest increase in terms of the dollar figure, growing by about $10.3 billion. This is likely because Airbnbs tend to be more expensive in North America.

But Latin America experienced the biggest increase by percentage growing by 80.54% in gross revenue.

These Airbnb statistics show that Latin America is set to grow even more and Airbnb themselves have said they are focusing more on Latin America as a region.

Europe also maintained strong growth in gross revenue, growing by $7.5 billion from 2020 to 2021.

Airbnb Commission Revenue By Region

Now you have seen how much gross revenue each region generated with Airbnbs.

But how much commission revenue does Airbnb make from this?

This is the complete breakdown of how much revenue Airbnb makes in commission from listings in each region:

Airbnb’s revenue from listings almost doubled globally from $3.88 billion in 2020 to 6.85 billion in 2021. That means their revenue grew by 76.62%.

North America was the biggest growth region for Airbnb, with revenue increasing by about $1.5 billion at a rate of 81.26%.

In terms of revenue, North America and Europe are far more valuable to Airbnb than the other regions, accounting for just over 80% of the total revenue.

These Airbnb statistics show that even though the platform has fewer listings, they are growing extremely fast.

Airbnb Average Prices By Region

It makes sense that the cost of an Airbnb is not the same in every region. Places that have higher costs of living also charge more for accommodation.

Here’s the full breakdown of the average cost per night on Airbnb in each region:

The average cost per night from 2020 to 2021 increased by 24.5%.

North America had the biggest increase, growing by an average of $45 per night, which means a growth rate of 27.6%.

It makes sense that the average cost per night would increase in each region because there are far fewer listings on the platform.

Airbnb Statistics By Country

Now that you have looked at Airbnb statistics by region, what about individual countries?

Here are the latest Airbnb stats by country.

Airbnb Listings By Country

The most Airbnb listings are in the US, with an average of 2.25 million active listings throughout 2021.

France follows this with 1.2 million listings and interestingly, China came in third with 1.15 million average listings in 2021.

This is the full breakdown of the top 10 countries with the most listings on Airbnb:

The US had the smallest decrease in listings of each of the top 10 countries, with a decrease rate of just 2.7%.

The US was the only country in the world to have over 2+ million listings on Airbnb in 2020 and 2021.

Brazil had the second smallest decrease in listings at 2.9% and Mexico had the third smallest drop at 3.4%.

Mexico managed to attract a lot of tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic by keeping its borders open without many restrictions.

Airbnb Demand By Country

While listings are a good indicator of the capacity for guests to stay in a specific country using the Airbnb platform, demand (nights stayed) shows which countries had the most booked listings.

While the top 10 countries by Airbnb demand are the same as in total listings, the increase in nights booked in some countries has changed a lot.

Here are the numbers on the countries with the most nights booked on Airbnb in 2020 and 2021.

The country with the most Airbnb demand is the United States, with 99.5 million nights booked in 2021. They also had an increase of about 33 million nights booked from 2020 to 2021.

This was a significant increase in demand compared with every other country on the list.

France also had a significant increase in demand growing from 27.9 million nights stayed in 2020 to over 43 million in 2021. That’s an increase of 54% over the two years.

China had the smallest growth out of all the countries in the top 10.

Although China ranked 3rd for most listings on Airbnb in 2021, the country placed 7th for actual nights stayed (demand).

This is the biggest difference of all the countries when comparing total Airbnb listings vs Airbnb demand.

Airbnb Gross Revenue By Country

While available listings and demand are important indicators for Airbnb, gross revenue is the most important!

And just because a country has a lot of demand and listings doesn’t mean it generates tons of revenue.

These are the Airbnb statistics on gross revenue by country.

The United States almost doubled in terms of Airbnb gross revenue from 2020 to 2021. The country generated over $21.4 billion.

The US also generated more revenue than the next 9 countries combined!

France is the second biggest country by Airbnb gross revenue generating $4.56 billion. France also grew significantly from 2020 to 2021, with a revenue growth rate of 76.4%.

Even though Brazil ranked 5th for total Airbnb listings, the country ranked 9th for gross revenue and generated less than $900 million for 2021.

Airbnb Statistics By City

Now let’s have a look at the Airbnb statistics by city.

There is a considerable difference between the number of Airbnb listings some cities have vs the amount of revenue and demand. Here’s what you need to know.

Airbnb Listings By City

London is the city with the most Airbnbs listings in the world at 156,511.

The UK ranked 6th for most listings, but London comfortably takes the top spot when broken down by city.

Paris comes in second with 107,241 and New York City takes third place with an average of 94,198 Airbnb listings in 2021.

These are the top 10 cities by Airbnb listings in 2021 and 2020.

You can see that Airbnb listings from 2020 to 2021 dropped in all cities.

Notably, Beijing dropped out of the top 10 in Airbnb listings and Istanbul climbed into the top 10 with a total of 50,344.

London had the biggest decrease of every city from 2020 to 2021, dropping almost 50,000 Airbnb listings.

Rio de Janeiro also dropped significantly, decreasing from rank 7th to Rank 9th.

Airbnb Demand By City

What about the Airbnb demand (nights stayed) by city?

Every city had an increase in demand except London. It decreased from 2.5 million in 2020 to 2.3 million in 2021.

Here are the cities that had the most demand between 2020 and 2021:

Even though demand decreased in London, it is still the city with the highest number of nights stayed.

New York had one of the biggest increases jumping from 1.57 million in 2020 to 2.08 million nights stayed in 2021.

This is likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic ending and more people heading back to New York for work.

Paris also increased by over 400,000 in demand, but Rome had the biggest increase overall. Rome jumped from 1.15 million nights stayed in 2020 to 1.72 million in 2021

That’s a demand growth rate of 49.45% year over year.

Airbnb Gross Revenue By City

San Diego in the state of California is the city that generates the most gross revenue on Airbnb.

In 2021, San Diego grossed $379.54 million on the Airbnb platform, comfortably putting it ahead of London which grossed $356.41 million.

These are the top 10 cities in terms of gross revenue on Airbnb:

Austin, Texas came in third with $342.44 million in 2021 gross revenue. Austin experienced the biggest increase in revenue, growing by 235% from 2020 to 2021.

Every city in the top 10 saw a significant increase in gross revenue from 2020 to 2021.

The biggest reason is the reduced impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the quick recovery of the short-term rental market across each city.

Airbnb Host Demographic Statistics

One of the most important aspects of Airbnb is the hosts.

Attracting the right types of hosts who offer a variety of high-quality listings is a big part of what has made Airbnb successful.

Not only that, but the average annual earnings for hosts have increased by 43.8% since the beginning of 2021.

Since the beginning of Airbnb, hosts have collectively earned over $250 billion.

Airbnb has proven itself a reliable platform for hosts to make money consistently.

What’s the fastest-growing host demographic on Airbnb?

This might be surprising but…

There are now over 400,000 senior hosts on the platform.

Female seniors also seem to be the best hosts. Senior women are consistently rated as the best hosts on Airbnb.

So, if you are over 60 years old and looking for some side income, an Airbnb host might be a good opportunity!

And it’s not just because of the ratings either…

320,000 hosts over the age of 60+ collectively earned a total of $747 million through Airbnb in 2016 alone. That figure has only continued to grow.

Airbnb seems to be a place where female hosts thrive.

Women make up 56% of all hosts on Airbnb and have earned $32 billion since the company launched in 2007.

US women have earned a collective annual income of $4 billion as hosts on Airbnb.

On top that, 22% of all hosts indicated they only chose to become an Airbnb host after first being an Airbnb guest.

Airbnb Guest Demographic Statistics

Now you have seen the Airbnb statistics about hosts, what about guests?

The majority of guests on Airbnb are women. But only by a bit:

54% of all Airbnb guests are women and 46% are men.

That isn’t a huge difference and actually shows that the platform is pretty balanced in terms of guests.

What about age, then?

The full breakdown of age groups that use Airbnb the most as guests are:

Guests aged 25 to 44 make up a total of 59% of users on the platform.

At the same time, just 13% of guests are 55+.

Airbnb has been designed for younger age groups with the goal of making it easier and more convenient to book a night somewhere.

But why do guests choose Airbnb over a standard hotel?

An overwhelming 95% of guests surveyed said they chose Airbnb for ease and security of payment. 86% said the location of their Airbnb is more convenient than a hotel.

Ease of use, security and convenience is what give the platform its most significant competitive advantage over your average hotel.

But that’s not all…

But millennials choose Airbnb for very different reasons…

58% of millennials indicated that social media worthiness was a major factor in their booking decision on Airbnb.

The truth is that you can book exciting Airbnbs that look good on social media.

Airbnb Corporate Statistics

Airbnb’s corporate environment has changed a lot over the last few years.

In 2022, the CEO Brian Chesky announced that the majority of Airbnb employees would be going remote – allowing them to work and live anywhere.

Airbnb has a total of 6,132 employees that work for the company. 52.5% of Airbnb workers are male and 47.5% are female.

This is very balanced for most tech companies.

But there are undoubtedly specific jobs at Airbnb that attract different genders more than others. 77.9% of engineers at Airbnb are male.

12.3% of Airbnb’s employees based in the United States are from underrepresented populations.

What do employees think about working for Airbnb?

In a survey of over 1000 employees, workers rated Airbnb 3.8 out of 5 stars as a company to work for.

The criteria for the rating included:

This is consistent with other major tech companies that provide good employee benefits and opportunities.

A further 75% of Airbnb employees felt their pay was fair when compared to similar roles and what they were required to do.

Airbnb Biggest Challenges

One of the biggest challenges for Airbnb is operating in so many countries. They are required to meet strict regulations set by local and national government bodies.

What does that really mean?

Here’s an example:

Airbnb now has over 400 agreements with local and national governments to automate the collection of tourism taxes.

The result is that Airbnb ends up collecting $2 billion every year in tourism-related taxes that need to be paid to the appropriate government body.

Regulations like this are one of the most significant issues that Airbnb faces as it grows.

Wrapping It Up

The last three years have been an interesting time for Airbnb.

Even throughout the pandemic, these Airbnb statistics show that the platform has consistently grown in:

Coming out of the pandemic in 2021, Airbnb has seen an even bigger explosion in growth as life returns to “normal”.

Indeed, 2022 was a record year for Airbnb. Revenue of $8.4 billion grew 40% year over year. Net income was $1.9 billion, making 2022 their first profitable full year on a GAAP basis.

It’s clear that hosts are making good ROIs, and the higher demand from guests means Airbnb will likely continue to grow through this year and in the future.

And although Airbnb does have competitors – none of them are even close in terms of value for money and the number of listings they offer.

This makes Airbnb an easy choice for guests looking for short-term rentals on holiday and work-related trips.

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