US Sends 18.4 Lakh Tourists to India in 2025, Tops Foreign Visitor List

The United States continued to be India’s top contributor of foreign tourists in 2025, with over 18.41 lakh Americans visiting the country, according to data presented by the Ministry of Tourism in the Rajya Sabha. This marks a steady increase from 18.04 lakh visitors in 2024 and 16.91 lakh in 2023, reinforcing the US’s position as the leading source of international arrivals.

The United Kingdom followed as the second-largest source with 10.84 lakh tourists, while Australia and Canada contributed 5.45 lakh and 5.44 lakh visitors respectively. Notably, Bangladesh, which had previously dominated the rankings, saw a dramatic decline. After sending more than 21 lakh tourists in 2023, Bangladesh’s numbers dropped to 17.5 lakh in 2024 and plummeted to just 4.68 lakh in 2025—a decrease of over 73% in a single year.

Other significant contributors included Malaysia (3.36 lakh), Sri Lanka (3.06 lakh), Germany (2.73 lakh), Japan (2.19 lakh), and Nepal (2.18 lakh). Overall, India recorded 202.18 lakh international tourist arrivals in 2025, slightly down from 205.69 lakh in 2024, but still above pre-pandemic levels.

Among Indian states, Uttar Pradesh narrowly edged out Maharashtra to claim the highest number of foreign tourist visits in 2025, with 45.08 lakh compared to Maharashtra’s 44.97 lakh. West Bengal, Delhi, and Gujarat rounded out the top five. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh did not feature among the leading destinations for foreign visitors this year.

The Tourism Ministry noted that it regularly conducts surveys to track changing preferences and travel patterns among international tourists, and clarified that international tourist arrival figures include both foreign and Indian nationals based on Bureau of Immigration data.