10 Countries Where Citizens Have Never Travelled Abroad, Indonesia Included
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Owning a passport and travelling abroad is a privilege not afforded to everyone. Many people around the world have never held a passport and therefore have never left their home country, including the majority of Indonesians.
A Pew Research Center survey reveals that 99% of Swedish and Dutch citizens have travelled abroad, the highest percentage in the world. Meanwhile, 95% of Indian citizens have never travelled outside their country.
Pew Research Center explains that several factors influence the low or high level of international mobility in a country. These factors include income levels, passport strength, visa requirements, transport infrastructure, geographical location, and historically formed travel habits.
In wealthy countries, those with higher incomes tend to travel to 10 or more countries more frequently. In the Netherlands, 61% of people with relatively high incomes have visited at least 10 other countries, compared to 29% of those with lower incomes.
In many developing countries, travelling abroad is still considered a major expense and has not yet become part of routine activities. Beyond measuring travel experience, the survey also examined people’s desire to travel to other countries.
“The desire to travel abroad is often greater than the ability to realise it,” the Pew report stated.
Kenya is the country with the highest level of travel aspiration. As many as 81% of respondents there said they would like to visit another country if given the opportunity. However, some people in a number of countries apparently have no interest in travelling abroad even if the opportunity is available.
Here is the list of countries with the highest percentage of residents who have never travelled abroad, based on the Pew Research Center survey:
India (95%)
Indonesia (92%)
Nigeria (90%)
Brazil (87%)
Mexico (79%)
South Africa (77%)
Kenya (72%)
Argentina (64%)
Japan (34%)
Poland (32%)
United States (23%)