Charts and Graphs

[DowtyCamino]

I'm sure there was an easier way, but I've manually input all of the statistics from the Santiago Cathedral website and created the following charts and graphs for general interest and comment. Enjoy

 

[C clearly]

Very interesting. My only quibble is that with the scale on the vertical axis changing on every graph, it is hard to get a quick impression of which factors are changing significantly. Nevertheless, still worth looking at, so thanks!

 

[DowtyCamino]

Fair point. The problem of course is that things like % of Pilgrims walking the Frances or % of Spanish overwhelms the %'s of other data and kind of washes out the data. I could do something like present a broken or non-linear scale, but most folks find those equally unpleasant. Now that I have the data, it can be presented in 1000 ways. If anyone wants to see something, let me know.

 

[andycohn]

Thanks for doing this. Interesting to see the numbers in a visual format. However, I'm not sure where you drew your numbers from. For example, according to the pilgrim's office, Americans constituted more than 10% of all pilgrims in 2017 and Germans were 14%. Your numbers were very different. I didn't check any of your other numbers against the pilgrim's office statistics. It struck me that perhaps you were only looking at the numbers for December.

 

[DowtyCamino]

It's a bit confusing, I admit. On the Pilgrim's office site they do indeed say that Germans were 14% and Americans are 10%. However if you examine the numbers (and the associated pie chart) those are percentages of Foreign Pilgrims. I'm showing a % of total pilgrims. Hence the difference.

With that said, I've also noticed that if you go to each month and each year, and add up the numbers they come close, but don't quite match the published yearly totals. Two possibilities for this come to mind...
1) Human Error - mine - (I hand entered ~3000 datapoints). The likelihood that I have some small errors is high. I've tried to check them, but since no lives are at stake, I think it's probably close enough!
2) Human Error - theirs. Someone (volunteers, I suspect) has entered much more data than I have. Perhaps they've made some sum mistakes or data entry errors of their own.
Regardless the differences are pretty minor.

 

[andycohn]

It's a bit confusing, I admit. On the Pilgrim's office site they do indeed say that Germans were 14% and Americans are 10%. However if you examine the numbers (and the associated pie chart) those are percentages of Foreign Pilgrims. I'm showing a % of total pilgrims. Hence the difference.

With that said, I've also noticed that if you go to each month and each year, and add up the numbers they come close, but don't quite match the published yearly totals. Two possibilities for this come to mind...
1) Human Error - mine - (I hand entered ~3000 datapoints). The likelihood that I have some small errors is high. I've tried to check them, but since no lives are at stake, I think it's probably close enough!
2) Human Error - theirs. Someone (volunteers, I suspect) has entered much more data than I have. Perhaps they've made some sum mistakes or data entry errors of their own.
Regardless the differences are pretty minor.

You're absolutely right! The percentages given for Americans, Germans, etc. are the percentage of foreigners, not the percentage of overall pilgrims. I had never picked up on that before, and I think (judging from other posts on this forum) that others have made the same mistake. Thanks for being so eagle-eyed!

 

[Peregrinopaul]

Fascinating Dowty. Any thoughts as to why the Oct 2009 peak (very graphically demonstrated) occurred?
My only complaint is that I hate being consigned to "other".!

 

[Peregrinopaul]

Sorry. I accidentally included my post with the quote.

 

[Peregrinopaul]

That said, at my first Pilgrim Mass back in 2012, the Dean, when reading out the statistics, clearly stated; "De Australia; uno". I had to restrain myself from jumping to my feet and waving!

 

[Fletchonides]

Really interesting; many thanks for doing this. My first thought on seeing the first model was the steady increase, but a huge spike in 2010. Then you see the other graphs and see in 2010 the spike in female, Spanish pilgrims starting in Sarria walking for religious reasons. Was it a Holy year, or is there an explanation?

 

[DowtyCamino]

Fletch, Yes, 2010 was a holy year and there was a huge surge in the number of pilgrims. There was a corresponding surge in the percent of Spanish pilgrims. I can only surmise that the holy year brought out a large number of traditional family pilgrimages and thus more closely matched a 50/50 male/female split.
2010 had a record number of pilgrims that wasn't matched until the "natural" growth of Camino popularity caught up to (and in 2017 surpassed) it.

Paul, I do apologize for the "other" category. The Cathedral sight does you a much greater honor. For nationality, they itemize every pilgrim and if I could import rather than manually type in the data you would have been one of the dots on the page! I limited the nationalities to Spain and the next 5 countries over the last 10 years.
What I found very interesting was the seasonal variation in "Top non-Spanish Nationality". Feb-June and September-November the Germans held a clear "lead". July and August the Italians held sway. And most surprisingly, for the last several years in December and January, Koreans were the predominant non-Spanish pilgrim. I'm sure there is a logical explanation for this. The population on the Camino is very low of course, so a small influx at this time can really affect the percentages, ....but Korea seems odd.

On an overall Camino note, steady gain in relative popularity of the Portuguese route is interesting as it what I'm coining the polarization of starting points on the Frances (both Sarria and SJPdP are launching an increasingly larger percentage of French Way pilgrims).
Not shown, but of interest to me the seasonal fluctuation in popularity of the VdlP. It make sense, but is interesting to see in the data, that the VdlP is least popular in the hotter months and most popular over the winter (August holy month excluded). The Norte has a reverse trend.
I was also a little surprised at the retention of Religious as a stated reason for the pilgrimage and the relatively static "Cultural only" choice. From my experience walking in 2014 and 2017 and general secularization in Europe I would have suspected a different result.

 

[DowtyCamino]

I don't see a 2009 peak, but rather a 2010 Holy Year peak

 

[Peregrinopaul]

Indeed, 2010. It was a rather careless scan on my part of the strikingly beautiful 3d graph. A Matterhorn year!

 

[t2andreo]

This is fabulous! Thank you for putting the effort into it.

I work in the Pilgrim Office as a volunteer for a month each summer, and can attest to the regular blip around the Feast of Santiago on 25 July every year. That is why I go then, they need the extra hands.

Plus, here in South Florida we are in the 'icky sticky' weather over the summer months. But in Galicia and Santiago especially, the weather is wonderful!

I usually work from mid-July to mid-August, as this also takes in the Feast of the Assumption on 15 August, another national holiday and major reason people arrive from camino.

With the exception of the last Holy Year in 2010, the volume increases a little every year. The Holy Year brings a unique blip.

The next Holy Year is 2021. We will likely see another unique blip in the arrival number all during that year, but especially around the feast of the apostle on 25 July.

I need to bookmark this thread so I can show it to the P/O management when I am next there at the end of April. The figures really do tell a story.

Thanks again.

 

[Peregrinopaul]

What on earth would a statistician make of the composite arrivals graph if they didn't know about the Feast of St James?

 

[t2andreo]

I dunno, However, if the person has a left side to their brain and is remotely analytical, the pronounced spike should result in questions. To wit, what happens during the period EVERY YEAR that could explain this blip...?

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I dunno, However, if the person has a left side to their brain and is remotely analytical, the pronounced spike should result in questions. To wit, what happens during the period EVERY YEAR that could explain this blip...?

Pouring over this thread has kind of made my eyes kind of glaze over as I am not analytical at all, being more of a right brain gal if you know what I mean. That could be intrepeted as impulsive, ditzy, artistic, etc. That being said, I hope you won't be too bored with my company when we meet up for lunch in March.

 

[DowtyCamino]

Pouring over this thread has kind of made my eyes kind of glaze over as I am not analytical at all, being more of a right brain gal if you know what I mean. That could be intrepeted as impulsive, ditzy, artistic, etc. That being said, I hope you won't be too bored with my company when we meet up for lunch in March.

Chris: There are far more interesting threads than this one. But as a recovering Engineer, I am analytical by nature and sometimes the affliction returns. This tends to happen when I'm missing Spain desperately and I've looked at all my pictures for the 1000th time, and told my stories to everyone I know. At these times even cold hard numbers act as a salve for the heart that yearns to crest the Pyrenees, stand is awe of the Cathedral in Burgos, walk in solitude through the mesata and stand in awe from the heights of Monte Irago.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Chris: There are far more interesting threads than this one. But as a recovering Engineer, I am analytical by nature and sometimes the affliction returns. This tends to happen when I'm missing Spain desperately and I've looked at all my pictures for the 1000th time, and told my stories to everyone I know. At these times even cold hard numbers act as a salve for the heart that yearns to crest the Pyrenees, stand is awe of the Cathedral in Burgos, walk in solitude through the mesata and stand in awe from the heights of Monte Irago.

Please do not misinterpret my response. I was not trying to discredit your thread. You had many interested pilgrims responding to your graphs! In fact, my husband is a retired electrical engineer and as is often said...opposites do attract.

I was really just responding to @t2andreo, as I gather from many of his posts that he is a really bright individual, although given to humor on occasion, too, and I have loose plans to meet him in March.

I have the same yearnings for the Camino as you, which is why I am in the midst of planning my fourth! Yes, telling our stories to everyone often makes their eyes glaze over. In this we have a common bond...no worries about the other!

 

[t2andreo]

Nah, no problem. I happen to be a left-brain person with alternative OCD impulses... Of course, being a regular volunteer, I do have some insider knowledge.

But these chart really do tell a very good story about who is doing the Camino, why, and where they come from.

Great job!

 

[DowtyCamino]

Please do not misinterpret my response. I was not trying to discredit your thread. You had many interested pilgrims responding to your graphs! In fact, my husband is a retired electrical engineer and as is often said...opposites do attract.

I was really just responding to @t2andreo, as I gather from many of his posts that he is a really bright individual, although given to humor on occasion, too, and I have loose plans to meet him in March.

I have the same yearnings for the Camino as you, which is why I am in the midst of planning my fourth! Yes, telling our stories to everyone often makes their eyes glaze over. In this we have a common bond...no worries about the other!

I didn't misinterpret your response. I'm married a loving, sensitive non-engineer. I know very well how my eyes can light up at a trend line as hers glaze over. But as I said...I'm a recovering Engineer.

 

[peregrina2000]

I'm with you, @Camino Chris! But unfortunately, I have no artistic side either, so I don't know what kind of brain that means I have. If I couldn't figure out Peregrino Tom's description of Ryan Air's new carryon policy, this one is certainly beyond me!

But I do appreciate all the effort that must have gone into this. The results are really fascinating. And so many thanks for correcting the common misimpression that the % of US pilgrims, etc, is referring to % of total pilgrims, when it actually refers to % of the total of non-Spaniard pilgrims. That must have been a lot of work to recalculate.

But, speaking of pilgrim office statistics, the reason I came across this thread is because I want to find teh 2017 number totals for compostelas on the Invierno and I can't find the pilgrim office 2017 totals. They are usually posted much earlier than February, aren't they? Wondering if @t2andreo has any inside info?

 

[DowtyCamino]

The Invierno route claimed 526 for 2017.

 

[DowtyCamino]

Wait....that sounds funny. Let me try again.
In 2017 526 pilgrims claimed the Invierno as their route to Santiago!

The 2017 summary is on the site. In the month pull down, choose "Todos"

 

[mylifeonvacation]

Just out of curiosity - I know there are overall stats on all the different countries, but is there a way to see the countries by route? So, if there were 526 pilgrims on the Invierno, how many walked from Italy, for example?

 

[DowtyCamino]

Life,...not directly...at least not based on the statistics published. I could cross the % pilgrims overall and apply it to the numbers for the Invierno to derive a number, but it would assume that Italians (for example) are equally represented across each route.

 

[Kanga]

Wow @DowtyCamino what amazing work and what an effort! Fascinating.

 

[Former member 2537]

All- I am the webmaster for American Pilgrims on the Camino and we maintain a page of statistics that is updated pretty regularly:

http://www.americanpilgrims.org/statisics