France is the most visited country in the world, with about 102 million international tourist arrivals in 2025. Spain is second at about 97 million and the United States third at about 68 million, ahead of Italy, Türkiye and Mexico. Worldwide, UN Tourism estimates about 1.52 billion international arrivals in 2025, a new record and roughly 60 million more than in 2024.
The figures below are the 2025 totals published by national statistics offices and compiled by UN Tourism in its 2026 World Tourism Barometer updates. Treat them as approximate. Countries count visitors in different ways, and national figures are often revised months after a year ends.
How a "Visit" Is Counted
These rankings use international tourist arrivals, meaning visitors who cross a border and stay at least one night. Day-trippers, cruise passengers who sleep on board and people passing through an airport are usually left out. Three details explain most of the oddities in the ranking:
- Arrivals count trips, not people. A German family that visits France twice in one year counts as two sets of arrivals.
- Multi-country trips are counted in every country. A traveller driving from the Netherlands to Spain who stops overnight in France counts as an arrival in France too. France's location between northern Europe and the Mediterranean adds millions to its total this way.
- Some countries report two figures. Mexico reported 47.8 million international tourists in 2025 but about 98 million international visitors once same-day border crossings and cruise passengers were added. Türkiye's 52.8 million foreign arrivals rise to almost 64 million when Turkish citizens living abroad are included.
France and Spain: A Close Race at the Top
France has been first in the world for about four decades, and in 2025 it passed 100 million arrivals for the second year running. That is roughly one and a half foreign visitors for every one of its 68 million residents. Paris gets the most attention, but the Alps, the Côte d'Azur, the Loire châteaux and Mont-Saint-Michel spread visitors across the country. Many of them arrive by car or train from neighbouring countries rather than by air. The Eiffel Tower alone gets around six million visitors a year.
Spain has been closing the gap. It set records in 2023, 2024 and again in 2025 at about 96.8 million. Spain's tourism is much more seasonal than France's and concentrated on the coast. Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands take the largest shares, followed by Andalusia, the Valencian Community and Madrid. The UK is Spain's largest source market, followed by France and Germany. If Spain's growth continues, it could overtake France within a few years.
The Paris 2024 Olympics showed how hard these totals are to shift. Many regular visitors stayed away from Paris during the Games to avoid crowds and high prices, and the city's summer was quieter than expected. The national total still set a record because other regions and the rest of the year made up the difference. Paris also reopened Notre-Dame Cathedral in December 2024 after the 2019 fire, and it quickly became one of the city's busiest attractions again.
The United States: The Exception in 2025
The United States went against the global trend in 2025. International arrivals fell about 5.5%, from roughly 72.3 million in 2024 to about 68.3 million. Analysts pointed to fewer Canadian visitors, stricter visa and entry rules, higher costs and a strong dollar. Canada and Mexico normally supply about half of all US arrivals, so a drop in cross-border trips has a big effect on the national total.
The US still ranks third because of its size and because New York, Orlando, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Hawaii each draw large numbers of visitors on their own. It also keeps a lead in spending, covered below.
Italy, Türkiye and Mexico: The Next Three
Italy
Italy is usually fourth or fifth, at roughly 57–60 million international arrivals, depending on whether the count is taken at the border or at hotels and other accommodation. Rome, Venice, Florence and the Amalfi Coast get most of the attention, but the lakes, Sicily and Puglia have grown fastest. Italy has also been the first major destination to charge for entry to a single city. Venice introduced a €5 fee for day-trippers in 2024, rising to €10 for late bookings.
Türkiye
Türkiye has been one of the biggest risers of the past decade. It recorded a record 52.8 million foreign arrivals in 2025 and about $65 billion in tourism revenue. Antalya's resort coast, Istanbul and the rock landscapes of Cappadocia attract different kinds of visitors. Russia, Germany and the UK are its largest source markets. A weaker lira has kept it cheaper than Western Europe.
Mexico
Mexico is the most visited country in Latin America. It received 47.8 million international tourists in 2025, up from about 45 million the year before. Most US and Canadian visitors fly to the Caribbean coast around Cancún, Tulum and the Riviera Maya. Mexico City, Oaxaca and the Pacific resorts of Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta take a growing share.
Rounding Out the Top Ten
The UK, Germany, Greece and Austria usually fill positions seven to ten, each with somewhere between 30 and 45 million arrivals. Greece gets far more visitors than its population of about 10 million, and most of them come between May and October. Austria's total is boosted by ski trips and by its position between Germany, Italy and Eastern Europe.
Two countries outside the top ten are worth noting. Japan passed 40 million visitors in 2025, driven by a weak yen, and has some of the fastest growth of any large destination. China was fourth in the world in 2019 with about 66 million arrivals. It is still recovering, helped by visa-free entry for citizens of dozens of countries since 2024. If that recovery continues, both countries could move into the top ten.
Several Asian and Middle Eastern countries are further down the list. Thailand, which had almost 40 million arrivals in 2019, has not yet returned to that level. Dubai alone gets close to 19 million international overnight visitors a year, using its airline hub to attract travellers stopping between Europe, Asia and Africa. Saudi Arabia opened to leisure tourists only in 2019, with the launch of its first tourist visa. Under its Vision 2030 plan, it has spent heavily on projects such as AlUla and the Red Sea coast to meet a target of 150 million annual visits, a figure that includes domestic trips and pilgrims to Mecca.
The regional picture explains most of the ranking. Europe receives about half of all international arrivals in the world, because it has many countries close together, few border controls within the Schengen Area, and fast rail and cheap flights between them. A weekend trip from Brussels to Paris counts as an international arrival. A much longer trip from New York to California does not. That is the main reason European countries fill most of the top ten.
Arrivals vs Earnings: Why the Two Rankings Differ
A ranking by arrivals and a ranking by money spent produce different leaders, and comparing them shows how tourism works in each country.
- The United States earns the most. It has fewer visitors than France or Spain but the highest international tourism receipts of any country. Visitors fly long distances, stay longer, pay US prices and often combine a holiday with business, study or medical visits.
- Spain earns more than France. Spain's visitors typically stay a week or more at the coast. Many of France's arrivals spend only one or two nights on the way to somewhere else. So Spain earns more tourism revenue than France despite having fewer arrivals.
- Thailand and the UAE earn more than their arrival numbers suggest. Long-haul, higher-spending visitors put both near the top of the revenue rankings.
- Short trips earn less per visitor. Road and rail trips from neighbouring countries add to arrival totals but bring in less money per visitor than long-haul flights.
For a small country, the most useful measure is tourism's share of the economy. For Greece, Croatia and many Caribbean islands, tourism accounts for a far larger share of GDP than it does in France or the United States.
When Popularity Becomes a Problem
Record numbers have brought record complaints. In 2024 and 2025, residents protested in Barcelona, Palma, Málaga and the Canary Islands over housing costs driven up by short-term rentals. Barcelona has said it will phase out tourist-apartment licences by 2028. Amsterdam has banned new hotels in its centre. Venice's day-tripper fee, Bhutan's daily Sustainable Development Fee and Iceland's revised visitor levies are all attempts to manage visitor numbers rather than simply increase them.
The top countries now face a different challenge from the one they faced a decade ago: spreading visitors across more regions and seasons, not just attracting more of them. Countries that manage this, such as France with its spread of regional destinations, are best placed to stay at the top.
For the landscapes that make France the world's most visited country, from the Massif Central to the Atlantic dunes, see our overview of France's geography.