Tourist arrivals in Türkiye jump 8% to 3.9 million in April

The number of foreign tourists arriving in Türkiye in April surged approximately 8% compared to the same month last year, to slightly over 3.9 million, official data showed on Friday, with Istanbul leading the list as the province with the most arrivals in the month.

“According to the provisional data from the General Directorate of Security, the number of foreigners visiting our country in April 2025 surged 8.01% to 3.9 million,” the Culture and Tourism Ministry said in a written statement.

Germany and Russia spearheaded the arrivals in April, the ministry said, with Germany also emerging at the top considering the number of visitors in the first four months as well.

In April, some 571,042 Germans visited Türkiye, up nearly 31.3% year-over-year, according to the data. Russians came in second, with some 375,820 visiting the country last month. The visitors from U.K., Bulgaria and Iran came in next, closing the list of the top five countries, respectively.

According to the data, Germany accounted for 14.64% of all rivals in the month, compared to 9.64% of Russia and 9.59% of the U.K.

Moreover, cumulative data for the period of January through April indicated a moderate decline in foreign arrivals as they slipped 0.6% versus January-April 2024, to 10.59 million.

Combined with visitors of Turkish descent residing abroad, this figure reached 12.74 million in the first four months.

Looking at four-month data, Germany held the top position, with some 1.14 million of its citizens visiting Türkiye. Tourists from Russia captured second place with 977,152 and Iranians were third with some 946,472 individuals traveling to Türkiye between January and April. Bulgaria and the United Kingdom were the next countries with the most visitors over the same period, respectively.

Türkiye welcomed some 52.6 million foreign visitors last year, up nearly 7% compared to the year before, while generating $61.1 billion in tourism revenues.

The tourism and hospitality sector is one of the key sectors for the nation’s economy, contributing significantly to its total gross domestic product (GDP).