World Tourism rankings
List compiled by the UN World Tourism Organization
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The World Tourism rankings are compiled by the United Nations World Tourism Organization as part of their World Tourism Barometer publication, which is released up to six times per year. It ranks destinations by the number of international visitor arrivals, by the revenue generated by inbound tourism, and by the expenditure of outbound travelers.
Ranking of countries by international tourist arrivals with overnight stay
The following table presents the number of international non-resident tourists who actually lodged in accommodation establishments in the destination country, distinguishing this figure from total arrivals recorded by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), which also include transit visitors and same-day visitors (excursionists).
| Rank | Country | Overnight tourist arrivals | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Spain | 77.7 million | INE / Eurostat |
| 2 |  Italy | 74.0 million | ISTAT[1] |
| 3 |  United States | 72.4 million | NTTO[2] |
| 4 |  France | 54.6 million | Eurostat |
| 5 |  Turkey | 52.6 million | UN Tourism / Our World in Data[3] |
| 6 |  United Kingdom | 42.6 million | ONS / VisitBritain[4] |
| 7 |  Germany | 37.4 million | Eurostat |
| 8 |  Japan | 36.9 million | JNTO[5] |
| 9 |  Greece | 27.4 million | Eurostat |
| 10 |  China | 26.9 million | National Bureau of Statistics of China[6] |
Methodological notes
- UN Tourism data count all international border crossings, including transit passengers and same-day visitors, in accordance with the International Recommendations for Tourism Statistics 2008 (IRTS 2008). This table records only tourists who actually spent at least one night in registered accommodation establishments.
- The figures for "overnight tourist arrivals" refer exclusively to non-resident tourists who stayed at least one night in registered accommodation establishments (hotels, other tourist accommodation and campsites). For European Union countries, the source is Eurostat; for the United States and the United Kingdom, the respective national surveys (NTTO and ONS/IPS) already exclude same-day visitors by definition.
- Although France ranks first according to UN Tourism with 102 million total international arrivals, it records only 54.6 million overnight arrivals in commercial accommodation establishments because of its high share of transit travellers (estimated at around 15% of total arrivals) and same-day visitors.
General sources
International tourism receipts
International tourism receipts are the earnings a country makes from foreign visitors' spending on goods and services during their stay, such as expenditures accommodation, food and drink, and shopping. In 2025, the top destinations were:
| Region | 2025 | % Change (local currency) (2024 to 2025) |
2024 | 2023 | % Change (local currency) (2023 to 2024) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 United States | 213.0 |  –0.3% | 215.0 | 189.1 |  13.7% |
| Spain | 113.8 | 6.9% | 106.5 | 92.0 | 15.8% |
| United Kingdom | 89.6 | 7.8% | 84.5 | 73.4 | 15.1% |
| France | 84.0 | 9.0% | 77.1 | 71.2 | 8.3% |
| Japan | 64.0 | 17.7% | 54.7 | 38.6 | 38.1% |
| Italy | 61.4 | 4.6% | 58.7 | 55.9 | 5.0% |
| Turkey | 60.0 | 28.2% | 56.3 | 50.1 | 12.4% |
 United Arab Emirates | Pending | Pending | 57.0 | 51.9 | 9.7% |
 Australia | 55.4 | 6.6% | 52.0 | 46.1 | 12.4% |
| China | 55.2 | 37.3% | 40.2 | 25.0 | 60.5% |
 Canada | 51.3 | –0.1% | 51.4 | 44.8 | 14.8% |
International tourism expenditure
The top ten spenders on international tourism for 2025 were:
| Country | 2025[7] | 2024[7] | 2023[8] | 2022[9] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| China | 254 | 250.6 | 196.5 | 114.8 |
| United States | 191.7 | 177.8 | 150.0 | 114.9 |
| Germany | Pending | 124.9 | 111.9 | 89.4 |
| United Kingdom | 111.5 | 103.2 | 99.5 | 80.3 |
| France | Pending | 59.8 | 56.0 | 46.6 |
 Russia | 49.3 | 38.8 | 34.8 | 20.8 |
| Australia | 47.8 | 45.9 | 42.4 | 19.6 |
| Canada | 42.9 | 43.4 | 38.3 | 24.4 |
| Italy | Pending | 35.7 | 34.2 | 26.5 |
 India | Pending | 35.0 | 33.3 | 25.9 |