Türkiye sees January tourist peak after record 2024 gains

The number of foreigners visiting Türkiye in January rose by 6.1% from a year ago, official data showed on Friday, as the key industry continued from where it left off after record gains in 2024.

Foreign arrivals jumped to 2.17 million last month, the Culture and Tourism Ministry said, a new all-time January high that adds to optimism Türkiye could achieve another consecutive yearly peak.

Tourists’ arrivals jumped to 52.63 million last year, surpassing the previous high of 49.2 million in 2023. That figure reached 62.27 million when visits by Turks living abroad are included.

For 2025, the government estimates 64 million visitors and some $63.6 billion in revenues. The income jumped 8.3% in 2024 to $61.1 billion and blew past the previous high of $54.3 billion in 2023.

Iranians unseated Russians in January to become top visitors in Türkiye. Some 240,643 Iranians arrived last month, followed by Russians at 203,733 and Bulgaria at 165,792, the ministry data showed.

Arrivals over the recent years have been spearheaded by tourists from Russia and Europe, mainly Germany and the United Kingdom.

More than 6.7 million Russians arrived last year. Tourists from Germany jumped to over 6.6 million, while arrivals from the United Kingdom rose to more than 4.4 million.

Tourism is a vital industry that Türkiye relies on to help flip its chronic current account deficit to a surplus.

The sector contributes about 10% to Türkiye’s gross domestic product (GDP), and accounts for about 5% of total employment.

The current account deficit narrowed to $9.97 billion in 2024 from nearly $40 billion a year earlier, with interest rate hikes and gold trade restrictions having driven the decline.

The gap-to-GDP ratio fell to around 0.7% in 2024 from 3.6% the previous year. Türkiye’s long-term average current account deficit is around 3%. The government’s medium-term program forecast a current account deficit-to-GDP ratio of 1.7%.

To improve the current account balance, the government has implemented measures to cap strong domestic demand, one of the main reasons for higher imports, and to boost investments and exports.