[비즈한국] The number of foreigners visiting Korea this year has exceeded 10 million. According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the total number of foreign tourists visiting Korea surpassed 10 million (provisional) by the third week of June. This is about a month faster than last year. In 2025, the 10 million mark was surpassed in mid-July.
The total number of foreign tourists who visited Korea from January to May this year reached 8.72 million, an increase of 21.0% compared to the same period last year (7.21 million). In May, 1.95 million foreign tourists visited Korea, an increase of 19.4% from 1.63 million in the same period last year.
Looking at the nationalities of foreign tourists visiting in May, China ranked first with 560,000, and Japan ranked second with 360,000. They were followed by the Americas, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
The spending power of foreign tourists has also increased. Foreign tourist credit card spending in Korea (including online consumption) for May is estimated at approximately 2.1 trillion won. This is the first time it has exceeded 2 trillion won per month since records began in January 2018.
The number of foreigners entering through regional airports has also increased. In May, 360,000 foreigners entered through regional airports, a 32.0% increase from the same period last year (270,000).