MADRID, 22 January 2026: International tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) grew by 4% in 2025, as most destinations worldwide posted solid results, according to UN Tourism reports.
According to the 2025 World Tourism Barometer, an estimated 1.52 billion international tourists were recorded globally, almost 60 million more than in 2024.
These numbers reflect a return to pre-pandemic growth trends, closer to the 5% average annual increase between 2009 and 2019. Results were driven by strong demand, robust performance from large source markets and the ongoing recovery of destinations in Asia and the Pacific. Increased air connectivity and enhanced visa facilitation also supported international travel in 2025.
UN Tourism Secretary-General Shaikha Alnuwais said: “Travel demand remained high throughout 2025, despite high inflation in tourism services and uncertainty from geopolitical tensions. We expect this positive trend to continue into 2026 as the global economy is expected to remain steady and destinations still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels fully recover.”
Africa sees the strongest results in 2025; Asia and the Pacific rebound
The World Tourism Barometer by UN Tourism provides comprehensive data for the sector by region, sub-region and destination. Key takeaways from this edition show:
Europe, the world’s largest destination region, recorded 793 million international tourists in 2025, a 4% increase from 2024 and 6% more than in 2019. Western Europe (+5%) and Southern Mediterranean Europe (+3%) saw robust performance. Central and Eastern Europe rebounded strongly (+6%), though arrivals remained 9% below 2019 levels.
Americas (218 million) recorded 1% growth last year, with mixed results across subregions. After a strong first half of 2025, the region saw slight declines in Q3 and Q4, partly due to weak results in the US South America (+7%) and Central America (+5%), which led to soft subregion results — Caribbean destinations (+0%) were affected by Hurricane Melissa in the last quarter of the year.
Africa (81 million) saw an 8% increase in arrivals in 2025, with robust results in North Africa (+11%).
The Middle East recorded 3% growth in 2025, equivalent to 39% above pre-pandemic levels, the strongest results relative to 2019. The region virtually reached 100 million international visitors in 2025.
Asia and the Pacific (331 million) visits grew 6% last year but are still 9% below 2019 levels as the region continued to rebound. North-East Asia led performance with 13% growth over 2024, while South Asia recovered pre-pandemic levels.
Among destinations with complete 2025 data, several showed double-digit growth in international arrivals: Brazil (+37%), Egypt (+20%), Morocco (+14%), and Seychelles (+13%).
Destinations reporting data through November also saw strong growth, including Bhutan (+30%), Iceland (+29%), Guyana (+24%), South Africa (+19%) and Japan (+17%).
(Source: UN Tourism UNWTO)
