124 South Korea Tourism Statistics for 2026

How many foreign tourists visit South Korea each year?

South Korea set a new arrivals record in 2025, the first year above its 2019 peak. Arrivals fell below a million in 2021 during the pandemic and took until 2025 to pass the old high.

View data table

Foreign arrivals to South Korea by year, 2019 to 2025, including crew.

Period	Value
2019	17.50m
2020	2.52m
2021	0.97m
2022	3.20m
2023	11.03m
2024	16.37m
2025	18.94m

• There were 16,369,629 foreign arrivals in 2024 and 11,031,665 in 2023, the first full year after the pandemic restrictions. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• Leaving out aircraft and ship crew, 17,703,949 foreign visitors arrived in 2025. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• Arrivals were about 15.35 million in 2018, and reached 17.50 million in 2019, the previous record. (MCST (arrivals release), Dec 2025)
• Arrivals in the second half of 2025 were 17% higher than in the second half of 2024. (MCST (arrivals release), Jun 2026)

Arrivals count every foreign national entering South Korea, including children, crew and ethnic Koreans with foreign nationality, so they include business travellers and students as well as tourists. They are border arrivals, not a count of overnight tourists.

Where do South Korea's visitors come from?

China and Japan send almost half of all visitors. Taiwan and the United States have grown fastest since before the pandemic, while China is still below its 2019 level.

1. 1 China 5.48m
2. 2 Japan 3.65m
3. 3 Taiwan 1.89m
4. 4 United States 1.48m
5. 5 Hong Kong 0.62m
6. 6 Philippines 0.62m
7. 7 Vietnam 0.54m

• Japan sent 3,653,137 visitors in 2025, up 13.3%, and Taiwan a record 1,891,414, up 28.3%. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• Japanese arrivals passed their previous high of 3.52 million, set in 2012, for the first time in 13 years. (MCST (arrivals release), Dec 2025)
• The United States sent 1,483,240 visitors in 2025, followed by Hong Kong (623,149), the Philippines (615,141), Vietnam (543,105) and Singapore (399,635). (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• China sent 6,023,021 visitors in 2019, so its 2025 total was still about 9% lower. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• From Europe, France sent 180,076 visitors in 2025, Germany 175,836 and the UK 171,940. Canada sent 282,618, Australia 267,157 and India 199,277. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• 61.4% of visitors in 2025 were women, up from 58.9% in 2019, and the largest age group was 21 to 30, at 27.6%. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)

Markets are by country of residence. The gender and age shares leave out crew. The comparison with 2019 for China is our calculation from the two published totals.

Are more tourists visiting South Korea in 2026?

Yes. Every month of 2026 so far has beaten the same month of 2025, by about a fifth on average, and arrivals from China and Taiwan are growing fastest.

1. 1 China 5.47m+29.2%
2. 2 Japan 3.12m+16.9%
3. 3 Taiwan 1.86m+32.4%
4. 4 Americas 1.62m+12.0%
5. 5 Europe 1.19m+20.0%
6. 6 Hong Kong 0.55m+18.6%

• Arrivals for 2026 passed the full 2025 total on 27 October 2026, on provisional counts. (MCST (arrivals release), Oct 2026)
• January 2026 had 1,265,658 foreign arrivals, against 1,117,243 in January 2025. (KTO (monthly notices), Feb 2026)
• March 2026 had 2,045,992 arrivals, the first month of the year above 2 million. (KTO (monthly notices), Apr 2026)
• August 2026 brought about 2.25 million visitors, up 23.3% and the highest single month since records began. (MCST (arrivals release), Sep 2026)
• September 2026 had 2,062,042 arrivals, 21.1% more than in September 2025 and 40.8% more than in September 2024. (KTO (monthly notices), Oct 2026)
• Arrivals in the first half of 2026 totalled 10.71 million, up 21.3% on a year earlier. (MCST (arrivals release), Jul 2026)
• In January to August 2026, arrivals fell 2.7% in Japan and 3.1% in Thailand and rose 14.4% in Vietnam, while South Korea grew faster than all three, on figures compiled by the tourism ministry. (MCST (arrivals release), Sep 2026)
• Among smaller markets, the Philippines sent 454,007 visitors in January to August 2026, Vietnam 406,816 and Indonesia 295,279. (MCST (arrivals release), Sep 2026)

All 2026 figures are provisional. Monthly figures come from KTO's monthly notices; a ministry release issued earlier in the year gave slightly different provisional counts for January to March, so no first-quarter total is given here. The comparison with Japan, Thailand and Vietnam uses each country's own arrivals measure.

How much do foreign tourists spend in South Korea?

The average visitor spent a little less per trip in 2025 than in 2024, but card spending by foreign visitors has jumped in 2026. Survey spending and card spending are different measures and are given separately.

1. 1 Shopping 37.0%
2. 2 Accommodation 19.6%
3. 3 Medical and wellness 16.6%

• In 2024 the average visitor spent US$1,877.4 per trip, including international transport. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• Leaving out international transport, the average visitor spent US$1,327.6 per trip in 2025, and spending averaged US$321.9 per day. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• Perfume and cosmetics were the most bought items: 71.3% of visitors bought them, and they took 33.9% of shopping spend. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• Foreigners' card spending in South Korea reached a record US$14.1 billion in 2025, a Bank of Korea figure cited by the tourism ministry. (MCST (card spending data), Jun 2026)
• Foreign card spending on tourism was 10.79 trillion won in January to September 2025. (MCST (card spending data), Oct 2026)

The per-trip figures are averages from the International Visitor Survey of departing visitors; its method changed in 2023, so earlier years are not strictly comparable. Card spending covers payments with foreign-issued cards, including online, and leaves out cash. Neither measure should be multiplied by arrivals or compared with the balance of payments travel account.

What is tourism worth to South Korea's economy?

Travel is a large export for South Korea, but Koreans spend more abroad than visitors spend in Korea, so the travel account is usually in deficit. The gap narrowed sharply in 2026.

View data table

South Korea's travel account deficit in the balance of payments by year, in US$ billion. The deficit has stayed above US$12 billion since 2023.

Period	Value
2020	$5.30bn
2021	$6.94bn
2022	$8.56bn
2023	$13.22bn
2024	$12.88bn
2025	$13.49bn

• The travel account showed a US$0.14 billion surplus in March 2026, against a US$0.85 billion deficit in March 2025. (Bank of Korea (monthly balance of payments), May 2026)
• The travel account ran a deficit of US$13.49 billion in 2025, against US$12.88 billion in 2024. (Bank of Korea (balance of payments), Feb 2026)
• The tourism ministry's wider measure of tourism exports reached a provisional US$27.2 billion in 2025, up 10.6%. (MCST (tourism exports), Jun 2026)
• 449,272 people worked in the core tourism industries at the end of 2024, in 70,867 businesses. (KCTI (Tourism Industry Survey), Dec 2025)
• Businesses licensed under the Tourism Promotion Act employed 219,133 people in 2024, led by travel agencies (60,515) and tourist accommodation (59,587). (KCTI (Tourism Industry Survey), Dec 2025)
• There were 2,731 registered tourist accommodation businesses at the end of 2024, with revenue of 11.14 trillion won, up from 2,218 businesses in 2019. (KCTI (Tourism Industry Survey), 2026)
• Tourist-use facility businesses, which include urban homestays for foreign guests, hanok stays and campsites, rose to 11,577 in 2024 from 4,657 in 2019. (KCTI (Tourism Industry Survey), 2026)

The travel account is the balance of payments gap between what non-residents spend on travel in Korea, including study and medical travel, and what Korean residents spend abroad; the data are revised and recent months are provisional. The tourism ministry's tourism exports figure is a separate measure of earnings, not a balance, and is not compared with it. The two jobs figures use different definitions: the wider one covers the core tourism industries, the narrower one only licensed tourism businesses. Business counts are not room counts.

Why do tourists visit South Korea, and how long do they stay?

Most visitors come on holiday, travel independently and stay about a week. Food and shopping are the most common activities, and almost all visitors leave satisfied.

1. 1 Food and dining 81.6%
2. 2 Shopping 80.3%
3. 3 Nature and scenery 53.3%
4. 4 Palaces and historic sites 35.3%

• 70.9% of visitors in 2025 came mainly for leisure and holidays, 15.2% for business, 10.1% to see friends or relatives and 3.4% for education. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• Visitors stayed 6.5 days on average, and 60.5% stayed four to seven days. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• 80.1% travelled independently, 11.5% in tour groups and 8.3% on air and hotel packages. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• 94.4% visited only South Korea on their trip. Of those who combined countries, 67.3% had been to Japan first. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• 13.5% of leisure visitors went to K-pop venues or film and drama locations, up from 11.7% in 2024. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• 79.2% of visitors stayed in hotels and 8.2% with friends or relatives. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• 97.5% of visitors were satisfied with their trip, 60.9% very satisfied. 92.5% said they would return for a holiday within three years, and 56.6% had been before. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• On the quarterly survey's 100-point scale, trip satisfaction scored 90.8 in January to March 2026, against 89.7 a year earlier. (KCTI (quarterly visitor survey), Apr 2026)

The International Visitor Survey interviews departing visitors aged 15 and over and weights the results to arrivals. Activity, lodging and region answers allow several choices, so they add up to more than 100%. The annual share satisfied and the quarterly 100-point score are different measures and are not compared. The Korean Wave question was asked of leisure visitors and those visiting friends and relatives.

How many foreign tourists visit Seoul?

Seoul takes most foreign visitors, though its share has slipped since 2022 as more travel on to Busan and other regions. The government wants to spread visitors more widely.

View data table

Estimated foreign visitors to Seoul by year, from national arrivals and the survey share visiting Seoul.

Period	Value
2018	12.19m
2019	13.37m
2020	1.19m
2021	0.56m
2022	2.64m
2023	8.86m
2024	12.83m
2025	14.54m

• The Seoul Tourism Organization estimates that 14,543,280 foreign visitors went to Seoul in 2025, against 12,833,789 in 2024 and 13,372,106 in 2019. The estimate multiplies national arrivals by the share of surveyed visitors who went to Seoul. (Seoul Tourism Organization, Sep 2026)
• On the same method, 11,557,198 foreign visitors went to Seoul in January to August 2026, up 21.6%. (Seoul Tourism Organization, Sep 2026)
• 76.8% of foreign visitors went to Seoul in 2025, down from 78.4% in 2024. 15.7% visited Busan and 11.2% Gyeonggi province. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• Myeongdong was named the best place visited by 17.3% of visitors, ahead of Hongdae (7.4%), Gyeongbokgung Palace (7.0%) and Seongsu-dong (5.0%, double its 2024 share). (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• The tourism minister says more than 80% of foreign visitors are concentrated in the Seoul capital region. (MCST (tourism policy), Oct 2026)
• 34.5% of visitors went to a region outside the capital area in January to March 2026, up from 31.3% a year earlier. (KCTI (quarterly visitor survey), Apr 2026)
• Foreign visitors spent 1.1532 trillion won by card in Seoul in April 2026, up 50.5% and 72.3% of their offline card spending in Korea. Gangnam-gu took 29.1% of it and Jung-gu, which includes Myeongdong, 27.5%. (Seoul Metropolitan Government, May 2026)
• Japanese visitors to Seoul stayed 3.5 days on average and 71.2% had been before; European visitors stayed 7.5 days, with a 26.3% repeat rate. (Seoul Metropolitan Government, May 2026)

Seoul's visitor figures are estimates, not counts. For 2026 months the 2025 visit share is applied, so Seoul's 2026 growth mirrors national growth. The ministerial 80% figure is a description, not a survey measure. Card spending covers foreign-issued cards only and one month only.

How many foreign tourists visit Busan and Jeju?

Busan is growing about twice as fast as the country in 2026, led by visitors from China, Taiwan and the United States. Jeju's foreign visitors are mostly Chinese, while its domestic visitors have been falling.

1. 1 China 719,260+88.2%
2. 2 Taiwan 718,313+60.5%
3. 3 Japan 407,038+25.2%
4. 4 United States 289,382+76.1%
5. 5 Australia 48,455+43.5%
6. 6 France 38,941+111.3%

• 3,434,620 foreign visitors came to Busan in January to August 2026, up 45.9% on 2,354,267 a year earlier. (Busan Metropolitan City, Oct 2026)
• Busan's count adds arrivals through its airport (1,467,473) and seaport (551,184) to an estimated 1,415,963 visitors who entered Korea elsewhere. (Busan Metropolitan City, Oct 2026)
• Foreign visitors spent 132.2 billion won by card in Busan in May 2026, up 81.1%. Since March 2026 Busan has ranked second only to Seoul for foreign card spending. (Busan Metropolitan City, Jul 2026)
• Jeju received 13,861,738 visitors in 2025, 11,619,551 of them from elsewhere in Korea. Domestic visitors have fallen every year since 2022. (Jeju Province, Jun 2026)
• China supplied 1,588,107 of Jeju's foreign visitors in 2025, or 70.8%, and Taiwan 233,590, up 46.5%. (Jeju Tourism Organization, Mar 2026)
• International cruise ships made 321 calls at Jeju in 2025, carrying 756,031 passengers. (Jeju Province, Jun 2026)
• Jeju had 529 registered tourist accommodation businesses with 34,108 rooms at the end of 2025, including 116 tourist hotels with 15,551 rooms. (Jeju Province, Jun 2026)
• Jeju's 12 public beaches recorded 1,448,500 users in the 2025 season, up from 1,134,065 in 2024. (Jeju Province, Jun 2026)

Busan's total includes an estimate of visitors who entered Korea through other cities. Jeju counts people arriving on the island, including cruise passengers, and some recent months are provisional. City and island counts use their own methods and cannot be added to the national total or to each other. Jeju's registered lodging leaves out ordinary inns, rural guesthouses and short-term lets.

How many medical tourists visit South Korea?

Medical tourism has boomed since the pandemic, driven by skin treatments, and patient numbers in 2025 were about four times the 2019 level. Nearly all patients are treated in Seoul.

View data table

Foreign patients treated in South Korea by year, counting each patient once.

Period	Value
2015	296,889
2016	364,189
2017	321,574
2018	378,967
2019	497,464
2020	117,069
2021	145,842
2022	248,110
2023	605,768
2024	1.17m
2025	2.01m

• Foreign patient numbers rose 71.9% in 2025, from 1,170,467 in 2024. Counting repeat patients each time, the total was 2.72 million. (MOHW, Apr 2026)
• Dermatology treated 1.313 million foreign patients, 62.9% of the total, followed by plastic surgery (233,000, 11.2%), internal medicine (192,000) and health check-ups (65,000). (MOHW, Apr 2026)
• China and Japan together supplied 60.6% of patients, Taiwan 9.2% (186,000, up 122.5%) and the US 8.6% (173,000). Patients came from 201 countries. (MOHW, Apr 2026)
• Seoul treated 87.2% of foreign patients, 1.76 million people; Busan treated 3.8% and Jeju 2.3%. (MOHW, Apr 2026)
• Patients and their companions spent an estimated 12.5 trillion won on medical tourism in 2025, of which 3.3 trillion won went on medical care. (MOHW (KIET estimate), Apr 2026)

Counts cover foreigners treated at registered providers who are not in Korea's national health insurance, so some are foreign residents and they are not a subset of tourist arrivals. Consultations and telemedicine are excluded. The spending figure is a model estimate by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET), cited by the health ministry.

How many people visit South Korea's palaces and national parks?

The royal palaces and tombs drew more foreign visitors in 2025 than in any year since at least 2016. National park visits passed 43 million, but most of the rise came from a park counted for the first time.

View data table

Foreign visitors to the royal palaces, Jongmyo and the Joseon royal tombs by year.

Period	Value
2016	3.85m
2017	2.09m
2018	2.13m
2019	2.57m
2020	0.27m
2021	0.07m
2022	0.54m
2023	2.01m
2024	3.18m
2025	4.27m

• Foreign visitors made up about a quarter of palace and tomb visits in 2025, and about 69% of all visits were free of charge. (Korea Heritage Service, 2026)
• Foreign visits had peaked at 3.85 million in 2016, then fell to 2.09 million in 2017, when Chinese group tours stopped. (Korea Heritage Service, 2026)
• Korea's national parks recorded 43,310,477 visits in 2025, against 40,655,814 in 2024. Most of the rise comes from Palgongsan, counted for the first time with 3,000,235 visits; without it, visits were slightly lower than in 2024. (Korea National Park Service, Jul 2026)
• Bukhansan, on Seoul's northern edge, was the busiest park with 7,533,114 visits, ahead of Gyeongju (4,209,932), Hallyeohaesang (3,788,939) and Jirisan (3,227,019). Hallasan on Jeju had 903,999. (Korea National Park Service, Jul 2026)

Palace figures cover Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, Jongmyo, the Joseon royal tombs and the King Sejong site, counted by the ticketing system. The indicator's commentary and its table give different growth for 2025, so no growth rate is given here. Park figures count visits, not people, and cover all visitors, including local residents. Palgongsan became a national park at the end of 2023.

How do visitors get to South Korea?

Most visitors fly in through Incheon, but airports and seaports outside the capital region are growing faster in 2026. Busan's Gimhae airport has become the second gateway for international flights.

View data table

Passengers at Incheon International Airport by year, arrivals and departures on all routes.

Period	Value
2015	49.3m
2016	57.8m
2017	62.1m
2018	68.3m
2019	71.2m
2020	12.0m
2021	3.2m
2022	17.9m
2023	56.1m
2024	71.2m
2025	74.1m

• 88.6% of foreign visitors in 2025 arrived by air and 11.4% by sea. 65.4% entered through Incheon, 8.3% through Gimhae in Busan, 7.3% through Jeju and 6.5% through Gimpo. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)
• 3.24 million visitors in January to September 2026 (19.0%) entered through airports outside the capital region, up 37.4%, and 1.58 million (9.2%) through regional seaports, up 14.5%. (MCST (arrivals release), Oct 2026)
• Incheon handled 73,554,772 international passengers and 421,136 international flights in 2025. (Incheon Airport, Nov 2026)
• Incheon handled 65,523,268 passengers in January to October 2026, 6.7% more than a year earlier. (Incheon Airport, Nov 2026)
• Jeju was Korea's second-busiest airport in 2025, with 29,806,982 passengers, mostly on domestic flights. Gimpo handled 22,962,089 and Gimhae 16,949,787, of whom 10,502,346 were international. (Korea Airports Corporation, Nov 2026)
• International passengers at Gimhae rose to 10,335,618 in January to October 2026 from 8,466,579 a year earlier, and at Jeju to 3,254,809 from 2,579,296. (Korea Airports Corporation, Nov 2026)
• Cruise ships made 338 port calls in Korea in January to March 2026, up 52.9%; Busan had 178 and Jeju 101. (MCST (arrivals release), Apr 2026)

Airport figures count passengers arriving and departing, most of them Korean residents, so they are not visitor counts. Entry shares are of foreign arrivals only. Cruise calls count each port visit, so one ship calling at Busan and Jeju counts twice; the cruise data come from the oceans ministry.

How much do South Koreans travel at home and abroad?

Nearly every South Korean adult takes at least one domestic trip a year, mostly by car and mostly day trips. Koreans also travel abroad in large numbers, but outbound travel grew far more slowly than inbound in 2026.

View data table

Domestic travel spending by South Korean residents, in trillion won.

Period	Value
2023	37.8tn
2024	36.8tn
2025	39.5tn

• Domestic trips added up to 472.5 million travel days in 2025, up 5.4%, and 39.5 trillion won of spending, up 7.3%. (MCST (National Travel Survey), Jun 2026)
• 97.0% of Koreans aged 15 and over took at least one domestic trip in 2025. On average each person made 6.5 trips, spent 10.2 days away and spent 852,000 won. (MCST (National Travel Survey), Jun 2026)
• 41.3% of domestic trips included an overnight stay, and 84.5% were made by car. (MCST (National Travel Survey), Jun 2026)
• Daejeon had the fastest growth in domestic travel spending of Korea's 17 provinces and metropolitan cities in 2025, up 29.7% to about 551 billion won. (MCST (National Travel Survey), Jun 2026)
• Koreans made 3,267,988 trips abroad in January 2026, the busiest month of the year so far. (KTO (monthly notices), Feb 2026)
• Outbound trips fell 10.0% in June 2026, to 2,004,723. (KTO (monthly notices), Jul 2026)
• In September 2026, 2,268,409 Koreans travelled abroad, 1.5% more than a year earlier. Adding up the monthly figures gives about 22.1 million trips abroad in January to September 2026, 2.0% more than a year earlier. (KTO (monthly notices), Oct 2026)

The National Travel Survey covers residents aged 15 and over and counts trips, not people; per-person figures average across travellers and non-travellers. Outbound figures count departures by Korean nationals. The annual and nine-month outbound totals are our sums of the monthly figures, not published totals.

When is the best time to visit South Korea?

Spring and autumn are mild and mostly dry, summer is hot with most of the year's rain, and Seoul's winters are below freezing. Foreign arrivals peak in August, and the national parks are busiest with the autumn leaves.

View data table

Foreign arrivals to South Korea by month in 2025. Spring and autumn months run close to the August peak.

Period	Value
Jan	1.12m
Feb	1.14m
Mar	1.61m
Apr	1.71m
May	1.63m
Jun	1.62m
Jul	1.73m
Aug	1.82m
Sep	1.70m
Oct	1.74m
Nov	1.60m
Dec	1.52m

• August was the busiest month for foreign arrivals in 2025, with 1,820,332, and January the quietest, with 1,117,243. (Seoul Tourism Organization, Sep 2026)
• Chinese arrivals in 2026 peaked in August at about 830,000, while Japanese arrivals jumped in March to about 480,000. (MCST (arrivals release), Oct 2026)
• Seoul's average temperature runs from -1.9°C in January to 26.1°C in August. It gets 1,417.9 mm of rain a year, about 63% of it in June to August, and July is the wettest month at 414.4 mm. (KMA, 1991-2020)
• Busan is milder, with a mean of 15.0°C over the year and 5.0°C in winter. Autumn there averages 17.5°C, with mostly clear days. (KMA, 1991-2020)
• Jeju is the warmest region: Jeju City averages 16.2°C over the year and Seogwipo 16.9°C, with 1,989.6 mm of rain. (KMA, 2026)
• National park visits peak with the autumn leaves: 5,205,585 in November 2025 and 5,005,906 in October, against 2,495,742 in February. (Korea National Park Service, Jul 2026)
• Jeju's foreign visitors peaked in July 2025 at 259,183, more than twice the February low of 112,113. (Jeju Tourism Organization, Mar 2026)

Monthly arrivals are KCTI figures as tabulated by the Seoul Tourism Organization, and include business travellers. Climate figures for Seoul and Busan are 1991-2020 averages; the weather agency's Jeju page does not state its period. Market peaks for 2026 are rounded to the nearest 10,000 and provisional.

How safe is South Korea for visitors?

South Korea has low rates of violent crime, and robbery has fallen by about two thirds since 2015. Total recorded crime rose in 2024, and visitors rate safety higher than any other part of their trip.

View data table

Recorded robberies per 100,000 people in South Korea by year.

Period	Value
2015	2.9
2016	2.3
2017	1.9
2018	1.6
2019	1.6
2020	1.3
2021	1.0
2022	1.0
2023	1.2
2024	0.9

• There were 1.6 homicides and 0.9 robberies per 100,000 people in 2024. (Supreme Prosecutors' Office, 2026)
• Theft ran at 355.8 and assault at 229.5 offences per 100,000 people in 2024. The theft rate was 483.0 in 2015. (Supreme Prosecutors' Office, 2026)
• All penal code offences ran at 2,118 per 100,000 people in 2024, up from 2,054 in 2015 and a low of 1,773 in 2021. (Supreme Prosecutors' Office, 2026)
• 95.6% of foreign visitors were satisfied with safety in 2025, the highest score of any travel condition asked about. Language and communication scored lowest, at 79.3%. (KCTI (International Visitor Survey), May 2026)

Rates are recorded penal code offences per 100,000 residents, from the prosecutors' crime analysis and national population figures, published as an e-National Indicator. They cover the whole population, not visitor victims, and crime definitions differ between countries. The table does not show which offence types drove the 2024 rise.

What are South Korea's tourism targets and entry rules?

The government has set visitor targets for 2026 and 2030, plans a larger tourism budget and has eased entry rules for several big markets.

• The government's target for 2026 is 23 million foreign visitors. (MCST (tourism policy), Oct 2026)
• The national goal is 30 million foreign visitors by 2030. (MCST (tourism policy), Dec 2025)
• The government has proposed a 2027 tourism budget of 1.7562 trillion won, 19% more than the 1.4751 trillion won of 2026. The National Assembly still has to approve it. (MCST (tourism policy), Oct 2026)
• A Visit Korea Year campaign will run from 2027 to 2029. (MCST (tourism policy), Feb 2026)
• As of December 2025, nationals of 22 countries and territories, including Japan, Taiwan, the US, the UK, Germany, France and Australia, were exempt from the K-ETA electronic travel authorisation until 31 December 2026. Those who apply anyway pay a 10,000 won fee. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec 2025)
• Visa-free entry for Chinese tour groups was announced to run from 29 September 2025 to 30 June 2026. (MCST (tourism policy), Aug 2025)
• In March 2026, automated immigration checks were opened to 42 countries, up from 18, and five- and ten-year multiple-entry visas were extended to 12 countries including China, Vietnam and the Philippines. (MCST (tourism policy), Apr 2026)
• A pilot visa-free scheme for Indonesian tour groups began on 28 May 2026. (MCST (tourism policy), Sep 2026)

The 2027 budget is a government proposal awaiting approval. The K-ETA exemption date is as stated in December 2025 and may be extended. Visa and immigration rules are set by the Ministry of Justice; the figures here are the tourism ministry's account of them.

Methodology and sources

Figures come from South Korea's official statistics producers: KTO and KCTI for arrivals, departures and the visitor and industry surveys; the tourism ministry for its arrivals releases, card spending data, National Travel Survey and policy, each labelled by type; the Bank of Korea for the balance of payments; the health ministry for medical tourism; airport operators, the heritage and national park services and the weather agency; and Seoul, Busan and Jeju for their own counts. Each figure links to the document that carries it, with the date. Provisional figures are labelled as such, sums we calculated from monthly figures are marked, and estimates are named as estimates. The page is reviewed monthly and the date is shown at the top.

• Bank of Korea (balance of payments) · Feb 2026
• Bank of Korea (balance of payments) · Nov 2026
• Bank of Korea (monthly balance of payments) · Nov 2026
• Bank of Korea (monthly balance of payments) · Aug 2026
• Bank of Korea (monthly balance of payments) · May 2026
• Busan Metropolitan City · Oct 2026
• Busan Metropolitan City · Jul 2026
• Incheon Airport · Nov 2026
• Incheon Airport · Nov 2026
• Incheon Airport · Nov 2026
• Jeju Province · Jun 2026
• Jeju Province · Jun 2026
• Jeju Tourism Organization · Mar 2026
• KCTI (International Visitor Survey) · May 2026
• KCTI (Tourism Industry Survey) · Dec 2025
• KCTI (Tourism Industry Survey) · 2026
• KMA · 1991-2020
• KMA · 1991-2020
• KMA · 2026
• Korea Airports Corporation · Nov 2026
• Korea Heritage Service · 2026
• Korea Heritage Service · 2026
• Korea National Park Service · Jul 2026
• Korea National Park Service · Jul 2026
• KTO (monthly notices) · Jan 2026
• KTO (monthly notices) · Feb 2026
• KTO (monthly notices) · Apr 2026
• KTO (monthly notices) · Oct 2026
• KTO (monthly notices) · Jul 2026
• MCST (arrivals release) · Oct 2026
• MCST (arrivals release) · Jul 2026
• MCST (card spending data) · Oct 2026
• MCST (National Travel Survey) · Jun 2026
• MCST (tourism exports) · Jun 2026
• MCST (tourism policy) · Dec 2025
• MCST (tourism policy) · Oct 2026
• MCST (tourism policy) · Sep 2026
• MCST (tourism policy) · Apr 2026
• MCST (tourism policy) · Feb 2026
• MCST (tourism policy) · Aug 2025
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs · Dec 2025
• MOHW · Apr 2026
• MOHW (KIET estimate) · Apr 2026
• Seoul Metropolitan Government · May 2026
• Seoul Tourism Organization · Sep 2026
• Seoul Tourism Organization · Sep 2026
• Supreme Prosecutors' Office · 2026
• Supreme Prosecutors' Office · 2026