Number of foreign tourists visiting Korea surpasses 11 million in 2023

The number of foreign tourists visiting Korea last year exceeded 11 million, reaching 63% of the pre-COVID level, with over 1 million arrivals monthly.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization on Tuesday, the number of foreign tourists visiting in 2023 increased by 245.0% to 11.03 million compared to the previous year.

After a sharp drop from 17.5 million in 2019 to 2.52 million in 2020, followed by a decrease to 970,000 in 2021, the numbers recovered to 3.2 million in 2022 and exceeded 11 million last year.

Looking at the countries of origin for foreign tourists last year, Japan had the highest number at 2.32 million, followed by China (2.02 million), the United States (1.09 million), Taiwan (960,000) and Vietnam (420,000).

The number of foreign visitors in December last year reached 1,037,000, marking six consecutive months with over 1 million visitors since July of the same year. The number of foreign tourists last year reached 63.0% compared to the pre-COVID level in 2019.

By region, Europe and the Americas recovered up to 90.3%, totaling 2.63 million, while Asia and the Middle East showed 81.3% recovery, totaling 2.67 million. Japan recovered up to 70.8%, while China remained at 33.5%.

Meanwhile, the number of South Korean travelers abroad last year was 22.72 million, showing 79% of the 2019 level.

Tourism income last year increased by 26.4% to $13.5 billion compared to the previous year, and tourism spending increased by 47.8% to $22.3 billion. As a result, the tourism balance recorded a deficit of $8.8 billion.

Write to Jae-Kwang Ahn at ahnjk@hankyung.com