The most visited countries in the world
France, Spain, the US, China and Italy race for the world's tourists, from 1995 to 2019.
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What the data shows
- In 2019, France ranks #1 with 90.9M, ahead of Spain (83.5M) and United States (79.4M).
- France holds #1 for the whole period, 1995 to 2019.
- Biggest climber: Turkey, from #11 in 1995 to #6 in 2019.
- France grew 1.5× between 1995 and 2019.
About this chart
France has been the most visited country for most of modern tourism history, with Spain and the United States close behind. China and Turkey are the big climbers of the period.
Arrivals count overnight international visitors, not trips. The race stops in 2019 because the pandemic broke the series and several countries in the top ten haven't published comparable figures since.
The data
Source: UN Tourism (UNWTO) via Our World in Data, international overnight tourist arrivals, millions. Retrieved November 3, 2026. Ends in 2019, the last year before the pandemic for which every country in the race has reported arrivals.
| Date | 🇫🇷 France | 🇪🇸 Spain | 🇺🇸 United States | 🇨🇳 China | 🇮🇹 Italy | 🇹🇷 Turkey | 🇲🇽 Mexico | 🇹🇭 Thailand | 🇩🇪 Germany | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 🇦🇹 Austria | 🇨🇦 Canada |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 60.0M | 33.0M | 43.3M | 20.0M | 31.1M | 7.1M | 20.2M | 7.0M | 14.8M | 21.7M | 17.2M | 17.0M |
| 1996 | 62.4M | 34.0M | 46.5M | 22.8M | 34.1M | 8.0M | 21.4M | 7.2M | 15.2M | 22.9M | 17.1M | 17.3M |
| 1997 | 66.6M | 39.6M | 47.8M | 23.8M | 34.7M | 9.0M | 19.4M | 7.3M | 15.8M | 23.2M | 16.6M | 17.7M |
| 1998 | 70.1M | 41.9M | 46.4M | 25.1M | 34.9M | 9.0M | 19.4M | 7.8M | 16.5M | 23.7M | 17.4M | 18.9M |
| 1999 | 73.1M | 45.4M | 48.7M | 27.0M | 36.5M | 6.9M | 19.0M | 8.7M | 17.1M | 23.3M | 17.5M | 19.4M |
| 2000 | 77.2M | 46.4M | 51.2M | 31.2M | 41.2M | 9.6M | 20.6M | 9.6M | 19.0M | 23.2M | 18.0M | 19.6M |
| 2001 | 75.2M | 48.6M | 46.9M | 33.2M | 39.6M | 10.8M | 19.8M | 10.1M | 17.9M | 21.0M | 18.2M | 19.7M |
| 2002 | 77.0M | 50.3M | 43.6M | 36.8M | 39.8M | 12.8M | 19.7M | 10.9M | 18.0M | 22.3M | 18.6M | 20.1M |
| 2003 | 75.0M | 50.9M | 41.2M | 33.0M | 39.6M | 13.3M | 18.7M | 10.1M | 18.4M | 22.8M | 19.1M | 17.5M |
| 2004 | 74.4M | 52.4M | 46.1M | 41.8M | 37.1M | 16.8M | 20.6M | 11.7M | 20.1M | 25.7M | 19.4M | 19.1M |
| 2005 | 75.0M | 55.9M | 49.2M | 46.8M | 36.5M | 20.3M | 21.9M | 11.6M | 21.5M | 28.0M | 20.0M | 18.8M |
| 2006 | 77.9M | 58.0M | 51.0M | 49.9M | 41.1M | 18.9M | 21.4M | 13.8M | 23.6M | 30.7M | 20.3M | 18.3M |
| 2007 | 80.9M | 58.7M | 56.1M | 54.7M | 43.7M | 26.1M | 21.6M | 14.5M | 24.4M | 30.9M | 20.8M | 17.9M |
| 2008 | 79.2M | 57.2M | 58.0M | 53.0M | 42.7M | 29.8M | 22.9M | 14.6M | 24.9M | 30.1M | 21.9M | 17.1M |
| 2009 | 76.8M | 52.2M | 55.1M | 50.9M | 43.2M | 30.2M | 22.3M | 14.2M | 24.2M | 29.4M | 21.4M | 15.7M |
| 2010 | 76.6M | 52.7M | 60.0M | 55.7M | 43.6M | 31.4M | 23.3M | 15.9M | 26.9M | 28.9M | 22.0M | 16.2M |
| 2011 | 80.5M | 56.2M | 63.5M | 57.6M | 46.1M | 34.7M | 23.4M | 19.2M | 28.4M | 30.4M | 23.0M | 16.0M |
| 2012 | 82.0M | 57.5M | 67.0M | 57.7M | 46.4M | 35.7M | 23.4M | 22.4M | 30.4M | 30.4M | 24.2M | 16.3M |
| 2013 | 83.6M | 60.7M | 71.6M | 55.7M | 47.7M | 37.8M | 24.2M | 26.5M | 31.5M | 31.9M | 24.8M | 16.1M |
| 2014 | 83.7M | 64.9M | 75.4M | 55.6M | 48.6M | 39.8M | 29.3M | 24.8M | 33.0M | 33.6M | 25.3M | 16.5M |
| 2015 | 84.5M | 68.2M | 77.8M | 56.9M | 50.7M | 39.5M | 32.1M | 29.9M | 35.0M | 35.1M | 26.7M | 18.0M |
| 2016 | 82.7M | 75.3M | 76.4M | 59.3M | 52.4M | 30.3M | 35.1M | 32.5M | 35.6M | 37.4M | 28.1M | 20.0M |
| 2017 | 86.8M | 81.9M | 77.2M | 60.7M | 58.3M | 37.6M | 39.3M | 35.6M | 37.5M | 39.5M | 29.5M | 20.9M |
| 2018 | 89.3M | 82.8M | 79.7M | 62.9M | 61.6M | 45.8M | 41.3M | 38.2M | 38.9M | 38.7M | 30.8M | 21.1M |
| 2019 | 90.9M | 83.5M | 79.4M | 65.7M | 64.5M | 51.2M | 45.0M | 39.9M | 39.6M | 39.4M | 31.9M | 22.1M |
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Frequently asked questions
What is the most visited country in the world?
In 2019, France ranks #1 with 90.9M, followed by Spain (83.5M) and United States (79.4M). Source: UN Tourism (UNWTO) via Our World in Data, international overnight tourist arrivals, millions.
Where does this data come from?
UN Tourism (UNWTO) via Our World in Data, international overnight tourist arrivals, millions. Retrieved November 3, 2026. Ends in 2019, the last year before the pandemic for which every country in the race has reported arrivals. You can download the full table as a CSV from this page.
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