November 10th, 2023, Clifton Mark
How much should you tip? Because tipping conventions vary around the world, this is one of the key questions in every travel guide. What might seem like a generous bonus in one country might be a miserly insult in another. To clear up the confusion, YouGov asked consumers across 17 global markets how much they tip for different services.
While gratuities are common in many different services, they are by far most common at dine-in restaurants, where 72% of respondents say they leave a tip. Still, whether people tip at all and how much they leave varies widely across markets.
Of the markets surveyed, Sweden seems to have the weakest tipping culture. The most common tip in Sweden is nothing at all, with 37.8% of Swedes declaring that they do not tip at restuarants. If they do leave a tip, it is most likely to be less than 10% of the total bill, with 42.8% saying they leave gratuities within this range. This leaves only 11.9% who leave more than a tenth of the bill. Overall, the average tip in a Swedish dine-in restaurant is 4.5%, the lowest of the markets shown.
Americans are the biggest tippers among markets surveyed. Only 7.2% say they don’t tip at restaurants with even fewer (5.2%) leaving less than 5%. The most common tip range in the US is 16-20%. While most Americans say they tip 16% or above, lower tippers bring the average gratuity down to 13.4%. Still, this average is about triple the average gratuity in Sweden and more than double the average British tip.
Most Brits tip, but not as much as Americans. The most common tip range is 5-10% of the total bill, which is what half of Britons (46.9%) leave. Only 15.8% leave more than that and a fifth (20.6%) do not tip at all. The average tip in Britain is 6.1%.
After Americans, UAE consumers and the second-biggest tippers of the markets surveyed with an average gratuity of 8.2%. Consumers in the UAE are unlikely to leave their servers no extra cash. Only 10.2% say they don’t tip in restaurants. However, most gratuities are relatively small as a proportion of the bill, with 59.5% leaving 10% or less. The UAE, however, is also home to the highest proportion (5.8%) of those who tip 26% or more.
The average among urban Indians is 7.7%, which puts them in the middle of the pack. The most common tip range is 5-10% with nearly as many leaving less than 5%. However, there is a greater proportion of consumers who leave very large tips (26% or more) than in the US.
While Americans are, on average, the biggest tippers when sitting down to a meal, their largesse is constrained at takeout restaurants. Nearly half of them (44.5%) leave no tip at all, and only 10.6% leave 16% or more.
Swedes (23.3%) and Brits (26.5%) are least likely to tip for takeout, whereas UAE residents (79%) and urban Indians (29.6%) are most likely to leave something. These markets are also home to the largest proportion of big tippers who leave 21% or more as a gratuity for takeout meals.
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Methodology: YouGov Surveys: Serviced provide quick survey results from nationally representative or targeted audiences in multiple markets. The data is based on surveys of adults aged 18+ years in 17 markets with sample sizes varying between 645 and 1942 for each market. All surveys were conducted online in June 2023. Data from each market uses a nationally representative sample apart from Mexico and India, which use urban representative samples, and Indonesia and Hong Kong, which use online representative samples. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Serviced.