The Japan National Tourism Organization recently released the country’s tourism statistics for 2024, revealing a record-breaking year with a whopping 36.87 million foreign tourists visiting from January to December 2024.
Specifically, 36,869,900 international arrivals were recorded in 2024, an astounding 47.1% more than the 25,066,350 global tourists the country welcomed a year prior.
Japan welcomed a record-breaking 36.8 million foreign tourists in 2024
In fact, the 2024 figure even dwarfs the number of international arrivals Japan recorded before the pandemic in 2019 by 15.6%, capping an incredible year for Japanese tourism.
According to the latest statistics, visitors from its neighbour South Korea make up the highest number of international arrivals last year at 8,817,800 visitors, a 26.7% increase from 2023.
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The second-highest number of international arrivals was from China at 6,981,200, which is a remarkable 187.9% increase from 2023.
Visitors from Taiwan make up the third highest number of foreign tourists at 6,044,400 (43.8% increase from 2023), while the United States ranked fourth with 2,724,600 (33.2% increase from 2023), and Hong Kong ranked fifth with 2,683,500 (26.9% increase from 2023).
The highest-ever number of Malaysian tourists visited Japan in 2024
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Japan also recorded the highest-ever number of tourists from Malaysia last year with 506,800 visitors, a 21.9% increase from 2023 (415,712 arrivals).
Historically, the previous highest number of Malaysian tourists to Japan was in 2019, with 501,592 visitors.
Do note that the Japanese Tourism Board only provided tourism statistics from 1990 onwards, and you can check the number of Malaysian tourists to the country from 1990 to 2023 below:
So, what do you guys think of Malaysians flocking to Japan in record numbers last year? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!
Also read: Man in China Becomes Fluent in Japanese After Watching Over 4,000 JAVs
