A survey conducted by the Ministry of Tourism showed that 745,377 persons used hotels in Lebanon and spent 2,440,618 nights in such facilities in 2017, leading to an average stay of 3.27 nights per person last year. The results show that Arab nationals, including Lebanese citizens, accounted for 47.4% of the total number of guests in 2017 and for 55.9% of aggregate nights spent at surveyed hotels in the country. The ministry based its 2017 figures on data collected from 200 hotels across Lebanon. It indicated that the 2017 figures are not comparable with those of previous years, given that the number of surveyed hotels changes each year.

The distribution of guests by nationality indicates that there were 81,748 clients from Lebanon, representing 11% of total clients in 2017. They were followed by 73,707 guests from Iraq (9.9%); 63,287 from Syria (8.5%); 51,512 from France (6.9%); 43,352 from the United States (5.8%); 37,955 from Jordan and 37,832 from Germany (5.1% each); 35,037 from the United Kingdom (4.7%); 32,243 from Egypt (4.3%); 31,496 from Canada (4.2%); 26,643 from Saudi Arabia (3.6%) and 19,870 clients from Australia (2.7%). Further, Iraqi citizens accounted for 13.3% of total nights spent at surveyed hotels in Lebanon in 2017, followed by Lebanese citizens with 12.8% of the total, Syrians (11.7%), French (7.7%), Americans (6.6%), Jordanians (5.5%) and Egyptians (5.3%).

In parallel, Syrian nationals stayed an average of 4.53 nights at surveyed hotels in Lebanon last year, the highest usage per night among Arab nationalities. Clients from Iraq followed with 4.42 nights, then guests from Egypt (4.03 nights), Lebanon (3.81 nights), Jordan (3.53 nights), the Comoros Islands (3.23 nights), Mauritania (3.13 nights), Libya (3.11 nights), Saudi Arabia (2.98 nights), Palestine (2.8 nights), Tunisia (2.79 nights), Yemen (2.75 nights), Algeria (2.69 nights), Qatar (2.68 nights), Kuwait (2.57 nights), Bahrain and the UAE (2.35 nights each), Sudan (2.32 nights) and Djibouti (2.3 nights). Further, the average length of stay per person for non-Arab visitors shows that nationals from Afghanistan stayed 5.07 nights, followed by clients from Slovenia (4.71 nights), Mozambique (4.47 nights), Brunei Darussalam (4.43 nights), Andorra (4.15 nights), Uzbekistan (4.13 nights), Dominica (4.08 nights), Gabon (3.99 nights), Belarus (3.94 nights), and Cameroon (3.92 nights).

EuroCost International's 2018 cost-of-living survey for expatriates ranked Beirut in seventh place globally, compared to eighth place in 2017 and to 13th place in 2010. Beirut continued to have the highest cost of living for expatriates in the Middle East since the 2012 survey. The survey attributed the elevated cost of living in Beirut to the high rental rates in the capital. The survey compares the cost of living for expatriates in major locations worldwide. It includes rental costs, but it excludes healthcare and education costs. The rankings are based on prices collected in June 2018 and were updated based on the exchange rates during the month of September. 

The survey shows that the cost of living for expatriates in Beirut is lower than in Geneva, Seoul and Singapore, and higher than in London, Zurich and New York City. Beirut is the only Middle Eastern city among the 15 most expensive cities globally for expatriates. Three new cities, which are Boston (26th place), Washington DC (27th place) and Paris (30th place), joined the top 30 list in this year's survey. Overall, the rankings of 18 cities increased, reflecting a rise in their cost of living, while the rankings of 11 cities declined among the 30 most expensive cities in the world. Hong Kong came in first place and replaced Luanda, the capital of Angola, as the most expensive city in the world for expatriates in 2018. EuroCost International specializes in cost of living services for expatriates in over 272 locations worldwide.  

The Association of Banks in Lebanon (ABL) recommended to its member banks to increase the Beirut Reference Rate (BRR) in US dollars to 7.9% in November 2018 from 7.55% in August 2018, the most recently available rate prior to the new recommendation. The rate, considered as the reference rate for lending in foreign currency, replaced the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) in 2009, as the ABL decided that the LIBOR does not reflect the cost of funding and lending in Lebanon. In addition, the ABL recommended to its member banks to maintain the BRR in Lebanese pounds at 10.7% in November 2018, unchanged from August 2018. The BRR in US dollars and Lebanese pounds were adopted in March and May 2009, respectively. The ABL considers that the BRR does not replace the Beirut Prime Lending Rate in each currency, but constitutes the basis to calculate the prime rate after adding the cost of liquidity and refinancing, credit risk and the profitability of banks.