More than 50 million foreign tourists visited Turkey this year

Turkey welcomed 50.06 million foreign tourists between January and November 2025, according to data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism on 22 December. The figure represents a slight increase of 0.03% compared to the same period last year; however, if Turkish citizens living abroad who visited Türkiye are added, the total number of tourist visits to the country reached 58.48 million.

According to the official data released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and published in various Turkish media, the total number of visitors in the first eleven months of the year stood at 58,481,000 tourists. Between January and November, foreign tourist arrivals grew to 50,057,000 visitors, in addition to 8,423,000 Turks living outside the country who travelled to Turkey during the first eleven months of 2025.

Russian citizens topped the ranking of tourist source markets, with 6.7 million arrivals in total during the first eleven months of 2025, a 2.7% more than the previous year. Germany ranked second with 6.5 million tourists (+1.8%), while visits from the UK fell by 3.8% to 4.17 million. There were also falls in the number of tourists from Iran, with 2.8 million visitors (-7.5%), and from Bulgaria, with 2.55 million (-5%).

Of particular note was the boom in tourism from Latin America, which showed significant growth this year. Specifically, arrivals from Argentina soared by 31% to over 71,000 visitors; Colombia recorded a 24% increase with over 83,000 tourists; Chile grew by 37% to some 33,000, and tourism from Venezuela grew by 11% to 28,200 visitors.

Istanbul and Antalya, Turkey’s top tourist destinations

By tourist destinations in Turkey, Istanbul remained the country’s main tourist hotspot, receiving 17.5 million tourists between January and November; it was followed by Antalya – the major Mediterranean tourist destination – with 15.75 million.

Provinces with the highest number of foreign tourist arrivals (January-November):

1. Istanbul: 34.92% (17,478,423).
2. Antalya: 31.46% (15,749,551)
3. Edirne: 8.31% (4,160,696)
4. Muğla: 6.95% (3,481,101)
5. Izmir: 3.12% (1.,564,027)

Provinces in Turkey with the highest number of foreign tourist arrivals (November only):

1. Istanbul: 52.14% (1,462,607)
2. Antalya: 14.74% (413,455)
3. Edirne: 11.53% (323,338)
4. Artvin: 3.94% (110,394)
5. Hakkari: 2.37% (66,491)

In November alone, foreign tourist arrivals to Turkey grew by 2.61% year-on-year to 2,804,000.

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