International Travel Arrivals Increased 4% in 2025, Nearing Pre-Epidemic Levels
International travel increased by 4% to 1.52 billion arrivals in 2025, fueled by robust demand and rebounding travel destinations across the globe.
In 2025, foreign tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) increased by 4% as the majority of global locations reported strong performance.
The year’s first World Tourism Barometer estimates that there were 1.52 billion foreign visitors worldwide in 2025—nearly 60 million higher than in 2024.
The figures show a return to pre-pandemic growth patterns, more in line with the average annual growth of 5% between 2009 and 2019. Strong demand, impressive success from major source markets, and the continued recovery of Asian and Pacific destinations were the main drivers of the results. International travel was further aided in 2025 by improved visa facilitation and increased aviation connectivity.
“Despite high inflation in tourism services and uncertainty from geopolitical tensions, demand for travel remained high throughout 2025,” stated UN Secretary-General for Tourism Shaikha Alnuwais. As the world economy is predicted to stay stable and travel destinations that are still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels fully recover, we anticipate that this favorable trend will continue into 2026.
“As the world economy is predicted to stay stable and destinations that are still lagging behind pre-pandemic levels fully recover, we anticipate this positive trend to continue into 2026.”
UN Tourism’s World Tourism Barometer offers extensive industry data broken down by region, subregion, and destination.
The number of arrivals in Africa (81 million) increased by 8% in 2025, with North Africa showing especially good results (+11%). The greatest results compared to 2019 were seen in the Middle East, which grew by 3% in 2025, or 39% above pre-pandemic levels. In 2025, the area almost hit 100 million foreign visitors.
Compared to 2025, international tourism is predicted to increase by 3–4% in 2026, provided that Asia and the Pacific continue to recover, the world economy stays strong, and geopolitical crises do not worsen. In 2026, tourism faces a growing risk of uncertainty due to ongoing geopolitical tensions and conflicts.
“After a robust recovery in foreign arrivals in 2023 (+34%), 2024 (+11%), and 2025 (+4%), UN Tourism’s projections for 2026 show a normalization of growth rates. This optimistic view is supported by the most recent UN Tourism Confidence Index and Panel of Experts poll. Experts predict that 58% of 2026 performance will be better or significantly better than 2025 performance, 31% will be same, and 11% will be worse.
The primary obstacles that international tourism may encounter in 2026, according to survey participants, are economic concerns, expensive travel, and geopolitical dangers.
About half of the experts thought these criteria were the most important.
In 2025, headline inflation has decreased globally, but by historical standards, inflation in tourism-related services is still high. In light of this, the Panel of Experts predicts that travelers will keep looking for deals.
The survey also stated that “uncertainty resulting from geopolitical risks and ongoing conflicts, trade tensions, and extreme weather events could weigh on traveler confidence, even though positive prospects for the global economy and lower oil prices could favor tourism performance in 2026.”
