In November 2025, the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) released the 66th edition of “India Tourism Data Compendium 2025”. As per the latest data, Maharashtra recorded 3.71 million Foreign Tourist Visits (FTVs) in 2024, emerging as the most visited destination in India, followed by West Bengal(WB) with 3.12 million and Uttar Pradesh(UP) & Gujarat with 2.27 million FTVs.
- Overall, India’s FTVs reached 20.94 million in 2024, marking an increase of 8.84% compared to 19.24 million in 2023.
Exam Hints:
- What? Release of India Tourism Data Compendium 2025
- Edition: 66th
- Released by: Ministry of Tourism (MoT)
- Top FTV State : Maharashtra – 3.71 million, followed by West Bengal (3.12 m) and Gujarat (2.27 m).
- India’s Total FTVs : 20.94 million (+8.84% YoY).
- Top Source Markets for FTAs in India: USA , Bangladesh , UK , Australia, Canada
- Domestic Tourism: 2,948.19 million visits ; Top states: UP,TN & Karnataka
- India’s ITAs : 20.57 million; 20th globally.
- India’s ITRs : USD 35.02 billion, 2.02% of global receipts.
About India Tourism Data Compendium 2025:
Source: This latest edition of Indian Data Compendium has been compiled by the MoT using data sourced from various group of stakeholders like: Bureau of Immigration (BI), United Nations (UN) Tourism, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), State and Union Territory (UT) administrations, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Key Indicators: This annual publication provides a comprehensive overview of India’s tourism statistics with detailed insights into 6 key indicators such as: world tourism scenario and global indices on tourism; inbound tourism; domestic tourism; and Human Resource Development (HRD)- travel and tourism institutions; and additional indicators.
Highlights of India Tourism Data Compendium 2025:
Top 5 Source Markets for FTAs: The report listed top 5 source markets for FTAs in India (in 2024) were: the USA (18.13%), Bangladesh (17.59%), the UK (10.28%), Australia (5.21%), and Canada (4.79%).
- The other 5 top source markets for FTAs were: Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Germany, France and Singapore.
- Together, these countries accounted for 68.64% of total FTAs in India in 2024.
Age-wise FTAs: The report showed that the highest share of FTAs in India in terms of age came from the tourists of the age group of 35-44 (20.67%) and 45-54 (20.24%).
Total Domestic Tourist Visitors (DTVs): India’s domestic tourism increased significantly by 17.51% i.e. from 2508.82 million visits (in 2023) to 2948.19 million visits (in 2024).
- It also showed that the country achieved a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 9.89% across all states and Union Territories (UTs) from 2011 to 2024.
Top 5 States with Highest DTVs: Among all states & UTs, Uttar Pradesh (UP) topped, with 646.8 million domestic visits in 2024 (+35.17%); followed by Tamil Nadu (TN) (306.8 million, +7.28%); Karnataka (304.6 million, +7.20%); Andhra Pradesh (AP) (290.3 million, +13.96%) and Rajasthan (230.1 million, +28.50%).
- Collectively, these top 5 states accounted for 60.38% of the total DTVs in the country.
Top Indian Monuments Visited by Tourists: Among the Centrally Protected Ticketed Monuments in India, Taj Mahal (in Agra, UP) topped in terms of visitors for both domestic (6.26 million) and foreign (0.645 million) tourists in Financial Year 2024-25 (FY25).
- Other popular monuments for domestic visitors in India in 2024: the Sun Temple in Konark, Odisha (3.57 million) and Qutub Minar in Delhi (0.22 million).
Share to India’s GDP: It further revealed that the tourism sector’s total contribution to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached 5.22%.
TSA: MoT has outlined the Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) in the 2023-24 edition of publication.
- TSA is a UN-recommended framework used to measure the economic contribution of tourism-related goods and services.
ITAs in India: India ranked 20th worldwide in International Tourist Arrivals (ITAs) with 20.57 million visitors in 2024, comprising 9.95 million foreign tourists and 10.62 million Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), accounting for 1.40% of global ITAs.
- According to UN Tourism, ITAs worldwide reached 1,465 million in 2024, up 12.17% from the previous year. The top five most visited countries were France (102 million), Spain (83.5 million), USA (79.4 million), Italy (64.5 million), and Turkey (51.2 million).
ITR: India’s International Tourism Receipts (ITR) rose to USD 35.02 billion(ranked 15th) in 2024, up 8.79% (Y-o-Y) from 2023, accounting for 2.02% of global receipts.
- The data revealed that ITR reached USD 1,731 billion in 2024, registering a 12.7% increase compared to 2023 and a 16.4% increase over 2019.
Top 5 States with Highest FTVs in 2024:
| Rank | State Name | FTVs (Approximately in Million) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maharashtra | 3.71 |
| 2 | West Bengal (WB) | 3.12 |
| 3 | Uttar Pradesh (UP) | 2.27 |
| 3 | Gujarat | 2.27 |
| 5 | Rajasthan | 2.07 |
Top 5 States with Highest DTVs in 2024:
| Rank | State Name | DTVs (in Million) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uttar Pradesh (UP) | 646.8 |
| 2 | Tamil Nadu (TN) | 306.8 |
| 3 | Karnataka | 304.6 |
| 4 | Andhra Pradesh (AP) | 290.3 |
| 5 | Rajasthan | 230.1 |
About Ministry of Tourism (MoT):
Union Minister- Gajendra Singh Shekawat (Constituency- Jodhpur, Rajasthan)
Minister of State (MoS)- Suresh Gopi (Constituency- Thrissur, Kerala)
