CruiseStar
Cruise travel reached another record in 2025. This reference page collects the numbers writers most often need, passenger totals, traveler demographics, destination share, fleet size, economic impact, and public-health oversight, in one place. Every figure is tied to a named primary source so bloggers, journalists, and researchers can verify it before citing it. Readers can then search CruiseStar's ship catalog to compare individual vessels and sailor ratings.
Last reviewed September 14, 2026. Unless a paragraph says otherwise, passenger figures cover CLIA-member oceangoing cruises, not river cruises or every small independent operator.
Cruise statistics at a glance
- 37.2 million oceangoing passengers cruised globally in 2025
- 34.6 million cruised in 2024
- About 22 million 2025 cruise travelers came from North America
- The United States generated 20.6 million, or about 55%, of global cruise passengers in 2025
- The average cruise lasted 7.0 days in 2025
- The average cruise traveler was 46.7 years old
- 35% of cruise passengers were younger than 40
- The Caribbean received 44% of global cruise passengers in 2025
- Nearly 90% of past cruisers said they intend to cruise again
- CLIA reported 310 oceangoing ships in its 2025 fleet dataset
The passenger and demographic figures above come from CLIA's 2026 State of the Cruise Industry report. The fleet figure comes from CLIA's 2025 environmental technologies and practices data.
Global cruise passenger statistics
A record 37.2 million people took an oceangoing cruise in 2025, according to CLIA. That followed 34.6 million in 2024 and roughly 29.7 million in 2019. In other words, 2025 volume was about 25% above the last full pre-pandemic year.
North America remained the dominant source region with just over 22 million travelers in 2025. The United States alone supplied 20.6 million passengers, approximately 55% of the global total. Europe supplied almost 9 million passengers, up from 8.4 million in 2024.
For historical comparisons, use the year printed beside a number rather than calling every figure 'current.' CLIA's 2025 report recorded 34.64 million passengers in 2024, up 9.3% from 31.69 million in 2023. Its later 2026 report replaces the forecast for 2025 with the actual 2025 count.
Cruise passenger demographics
The worldwide average cruise passenger was 46.7 years old in 2025, only slightly older than 46.5 in 2024. About 35% of travelers were under 40, while 34% were over 60. Those figures do not support the old shorthand that cruising is only for retirees.
Cruising is also strongly social and multigenerational. CLIA reports that roughly three quarters of cruisers travel with at least one other generation, and 34% travel with three to five generations of family. At the same time, solo travel is significant: the 2025 industry report said 12% of cruise travelers sailed solo in 2024, double the 6% recorded in 2023.
Repeat intent is unusually high. In CLIA's 2026 reporting, nearly 90% of people who had cruised said they intended to cruise again. The previous year's survey put the figure at 82%, so writers should identify which edition they are quoting.
Most popular cruise destinations
The Caribbean remained the world's leading cruise destination in 2025. It received 44% of global cruise passengers, more than 16 million people. European destinations received more than 9 million, placing the region second.
Alaska welcomed just over 1.7 million cruise passengers in 2025. The North American West Coast drew 1.6 million and grew 18% from 2024. Destination counts describe where people sailed, while source-market counts describe where travelers live; they should not be added together.
Fleet size, capacity, and cruise length
CLIA's 2025 environmental dataset listed 310 oceangoing vessels with an estimated 637,847 lower berths at double occupancy. The average fleet age was 15.2 years. Because ships enter, leave, and transfer between operators, fleet totals are snapshots rather than permanent counts. Our cruise ship fleet statistics page breaks down ship sizes and the orderbook.
The average cruise lasted 7.0 days in 2025, down slightly from 7.1 days in 2024. That global average includes short Caribbean trips and much longer itineraries, so it should not be presented as the standard length of every cruise.
On shore power, CLIA reported that more than 61% of its fleet could connect to shoreside electricity where ports provide it in 2025, with the share projected to reach 72% by 2028. Capability does not mean a ship uses shore power in every port; the port also needs compatible infrastructure.
Cruise economic impact statistics
CLIA's 2025 industry report attributed more than $168 billion in global economic impact and 1.6 million supported jobs to cruise tourism. These are modeled economic-impact figures, not cruise-line revenue or direct shipboard employment, so retain that wording when citing them.
Cruising still represents a small share of all international tourism. CLIA compared 34.6 million 2024 oceangoing cruise passengers with roughly 1.3 billion international tourist arrivals, putting cruises at less than 3% of international tourism volume. The two measures are not perfectly interchangeable, but the comparison gives useful scale.
Cruise ship health and inspection facts
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Vessel Sanitation Program covers ships carrying 13 or more passengers on foreign itineraries that call at US ports. Inspectors assess eight public-health areas, publish ship scores and reports, monitor gastrointestinal illness, and investigate outbreaks. See the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program overview and current inspection records rather than treating a ship's old score as permanent.
A sanitation score of 85 or lower is not satisfactory under the program. An inspection score measures conditions seen during that inspection; it is not a consumer rating and should not be blended with sailor scores. CruiseStar's separate ship rating methodology explains what our 1-5 star averages measure.
How to cite these cruise statistics
Link to this page when you use the roundup, and link to the underlying CLIA or CDC source when the exact methodology matters. Include the data year, keep projections labeled as projections, and do not mix passenger origin with destination visits. Suggested citation: CruiseStar, 'Cruise industry statistics 2026: 20 facts and trends,' updated September 14, 2026.
Planning content for new cruisers? Pair these market figures with our guide to nine first-time mega-ship mistakes for practical context.