Chinese tourists spent about $261 billion on overseas travel in 2016, a 12% increase from 2015, making it the world’s leading outbound market, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization.

 

China’s market was followed by the United States, where travelers spent $122 billion, an 8% increase from 2015, recently released data by the UNWTO revealed.

“This growth consolidates China’s position as number one source market in the world since 2012, following a trend of double-digit growth in tourism expenditure every year since 2004,” the agency said in a statement.

Germany, the United Kingdom and France were also among the world’s top five biggest spenders when it comes to overseas trips.

But the three countries combined do not compare to economic power of Chinese tourists who made 135 million trips abroad in 2016, Shanghaiist reported.