Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour generates $2B US to become most commercially successful tour ever

Another day and another record-breaking achievement for Taylor Swift. 

The global pop star’s Eras Tour, which finished off with a final show in Vancouver last night, is officially the most commercially successful tour of all time.

The tour generated $2,077,618,725 US in revenue, according to the singer’s company: Taylor Swift Touring, which reported the number to the New York Times. That number more than doubled the previous record for a completed tour, Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road, which generated $939 million US.

Swift also managed to generate the number in less than half the shows: 149 to Elton John’s 330. 

It’s the latest achievement for what was already a record-breaking tour. 

Major records, economic boosts

Kicking off in Arizona in March 2023, the international tour, which took fans on a journey through Swift’s heartbreaks and triumphs that have occurred over the course of her 11-album career thus far, had already become the first tour to take in more than $1 billion, according to live music trade publication Pollstar.

Cities in Canada and abroad that hosted concerts have seen economic benefits follow, driven by Swift’s loyal fan base, known as Swifties. One estimate from research company QuestionPro suggested her tour could generate $4.6 billion for the U.S. economy alone. The tour’s concert movie also took in $261 million US at the box office to become the highest-grossing concert film of all time. 

Tourism officials estimated that Swift’s six shows in Toronto last month would bring $282 million in economic activity to the city, while officials in Vancouver predicted her shows would generate an estimated $157 million for that city.

The Eras Tour brought approximately 150,000 Swifties to B.C. Place over the three shows from Dec. 6 to 8, and resulted in more than 82,000 rooms booked across the region, according to Destination Vancouver.

The tourism organization made the calculations with the B.C. Pavilion Corporation, which operates B.C. Place, and said 70 per cent of direct spending would be from out-of-town fans. It said the economic boost would result in more than $27 million in total tax revenue for all three levels of government.

The tour’s final show was also watched by millions of people on livestreams around the world. 

“Vancouver, I want to thank every single one of you for being part of the most thrilling chapter of my entire life to date, my beloved Eras Tour,” Swift said near the end of the night.

Now complete, the Eras Tour touched down on five continents and clocking nearly 150 performances.