ALL the Pilgrim Numbers from Santiago 1 January - 31 July 2014

[JohnnieWalker]

Hola

Greetings from Santiago.

During July 39,581 pilgrims arrived bringing the total for the year to date to 122,330 pilgrims who have registered at the Pilgrims' Office.
This is a growth rate of 9.1% which is down on the rate of 11% in the same period last year. Is the growth in the number of pilgrims slowing down? Time will tell.

The number of American pilgrims continues to grow. And in July pilgrims from the USA leapt into 3rd place for the first time. Click here to see the full analysis: http://www.johnniewalker-santiago.blogspot.com

Best regards

John

 

[Luka]

Wow... And I am all by myself in an albergue on the VdlP right now... Astorga is going to be a big shock...

 

[mikevasey]

I can believe that about the US having the 3rd most pilgrims. On the Primitivo there almost seemed to be more Americans than Spanish, and when I hit the Frances at Melide the North American voices seemed to stand out there as well.

 

[xin loi]

Hard to believe Americans are 3rd! Did not meet very many in May & June. I would have guessed the highest numbers were 1) German; 2) French; 3) Korean; 4) Australian; 5) Canadian before Sarria and Brits were number one after Sarria.

 

[MichaelSG]

I can believe that about the US having the 3rd most pilgrims. On the Primitivo there almost seemed to be more Americans than Spanish, and when I hit the Frances at Melide the North American voices seemed to stand out there as well.

There may be a different reason for the North American voices to be standing out.

 

[mikevasey]

Maybe, of course some are loud but some are quietly spoken, some are introvert and some are a lot of other things just like any other nationalities apart from and (sorry for offending anyone- but its my experience) koreans and Japanese who are almost always very polite and quietly spoken.

 

[Arn]

I've found that, although I am the quiet, shy, retiring type...I become rather boisterous in direct proportion to the number of cervezas. That said, I am also aware that many of those that appear quietly spoken, also increase the volume, when imbibing warm saki, or soju. Put us all together and we can be very loud!

 

[fraluchi]

During July 39,581 pilgrims arrived bringing the total for the year to date to 122,330 pilgrims who have registered at the Pilgrims' Office.This is a growth rate of 9.1% which is down on the rate of 11% in the same period last year.

There also are some other changes noticeable in the composition of pilgrims, compared to previous years.
As John writes, during this year’s first 7months, overall arrivals registered at the Pilgrims’ Office, compared to the same period in 2013, show an increase of 9.1%.
This is made up by increases of 8% in Spanish and 10% in foreign pilgrims. The proportion of foreign vs. Spanish arrivals has consistently been increasing over the years. If in 2011 they made up 48% of the total arrivals, in 2014 year-to-date they were 54%.

The proportion of walkers who reportedly started in Sarria was 24% of all pilgrims, which shows a steady yearly increase since 2011 (21%). There is a similar trend of pilgrims who walked the shorter routes on other Caminos to Santiago.

The Camino Francés walkers, representing some 68% of all arrivals in Santiago, increased by 6%. That’s less than the overall percentage of arrivals, but those who walked other Caminos made up for the difference. The CaminoPortugués increased by 17% (16% of all arrivals), the Camino Inglés by 53% (3% of the total) and the Camino Primitivo by 24 % (3% of the total) compared to last year. There was no substantial change in numbers who walked the Via de la Plata.

The percentage of Camino Francès pilgrims who started walking before Sarria has gradually decreased from 51% in 2011 to 44% so far this year.

These figures might indicate shorter Caminos compared to similar periods in previous years, and therefore more people probably spending less.

The composition of age groups did not change: 28% of pilgrims were less than 30 years old, 54% between 30 and 60 years, and 18% over 60 years old. Even so, there seems to be a tendency in larger numbers of pilgrims over 60 years old, who usually are economically better situated.

We'll have to see how pilgrim volumes develop during the coming months.
It might be interesting to know whether statistics can be obtained from the newly introduced Distance Compostelas.

Keep on walking!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

August is on track for over 52,000 compostelas, up 11% from last year's 46,728, but short of the 61,543 in the last Holy Year. That is a daily average of about 1,700.

 

[fraluchi]

La Voz de Galicia today published the July number of bednights, according to the INE, registered in Santiago. With an increase of 8% compared to the same month in 2013. Interesting to note that the number of pilgrims registered at the Pilgrims ' Office amount to 69% of the town's total bednights.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The numbers in the last week of August tapered off a bit, so it looks like August 2014 will finish with about 51,219 compostelas. Last year there were 46,728, so it is an increase of over 9%.

 

[JohnnieWalker]

In fact the August figure is 51219 compostelas issued. Making the growth rate 9.6% . Read all about it here:

www.johnniewalker-santiago.blogspot.com