Data / International tourist arrivals / South Africa

International tourist arrivals in South Africa

International tourist arrivals in South Africa was 10.5 million in 2025, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. That is up 17.7% from 2024.

2025, count10,498,506
Change on 2024+17.7%
Series high10,498,5062025
Series low2,256,0002021

Next release: Tuesday, 12 October 2027, estimated by Invokely from past publication dates (low confidence), not announced by the publisher. Release calendar

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International tourist arrivals in South Africa, 2009 to 2025

2M4M6M8M10M12M2009201220152018202120252009: 7,012,000 count2010: 8,074,000 count2011: 8,339,000 count2012: 9,188,000 count2013: 9,537,000 count2014: 9,549,000 count2015: 8,904,000 count2016: 10,044,000 count2017: 10,285,000 count2018: 10,472,000 count2019: 10,228,000 count2020: 2,802,000 count2021: 2,256,000 count2022: 5,698,000 count2023: 8,483,000 count2024: 8,919,000 count2025: 10,498,506 count02.5M5M7.5M10M12.5M2009201520252009: 7,012,000 count2010: 8,074,000 count2011: 8,339,000 count2012: 9,188,000 count2013: 9,537,000 count2014: 9,549,000 count2015: 8,904,000 count2016: 10,044,000 count2017: 10,285,000 count2018: 10,472,000 count2019: 10,228,000 count2020: 2,802,000 count2021: 2,256,000 count2022: 5,698,000 count2023: 8,483,000 count2024: 8,919,000 count2025: 10,498,506 count
count. Source: OECD, OECD Inbound tourism: arrivals of non-resident overnight visitors (tourists), tourism demand surveys and frontier statistics (DSD_TOURISM_INTER@DF_INBOUND). Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2026-10-12.
All 17 values
Periodcount
202510,498,506
20248,919,000
20238,483,000
20225,698,000
20212,256,000
20202,802,000
201910,228,000
201810,472,000
201710,285,000
201610,044,000
20158,904,000
20149,549,000
20139,537,000
20129,188,000
20118,339,000
20108,074,000
20097,012,000

South Africa compared with nearby places

Argentina: 5,680,796 countBrazil: 8,400,000 countEstonia: 2,802,143 countEgypt: 18,902,101 countMorocco: 19,792,604 countNew Zealand: 3,369,175 countPoland: 21,414,000 countSaudi Arabia: 29,254,787 countUnited States: 68,287,793 countSouth Africa: 10,498,506 count
  • Under 5.2M
  • 5.2M to 9.7M
  • 9.7M to 19M
  • 19M to 23M
  • 23M and over
  • No data
International tourist arrivals, 2025, count. South Africa is outlined. Same source and period for every area shown. Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

Rankings

Definition

Non-resident visitors who stay at least one night (tourists) arriving in the country. Spain and its regions: INE FRONTUR, by main destination region. Other countries, yearly: OECD inbound tourism table, from frontier statistics or visitor surveys.

Same-day visitors are not included; overnight and same-day visitors together are international_visitor_arrivals. The OECD series for Spain repeats FRONTUR. Countries count arrivals in different ways, so gaps between countries partly reflect method.

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How to cite

OECD. OECD Inbound tourism: arrivals of non-resident overnight visitors (tourists), tourism demand surveys and frontier statistics (DSD_TOURISM_INTER@DF_INBOUND). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_INTER%40DF_INBOUND&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2026). OECD Inbound tourism: arrivals of non-resident overnight visitors (tourists), tourism demand surveys and frontier statistics (DSD_TOURISM_INTER@DF_INBOUND) (International tourist arrivals, South Africa, 2009 to 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_INTER%40DF_INBOUND&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU

MLA 9

OECD Inbound tourism: arrivals of non-resident overnight visitors (tourists), tourism demand surveys and frontier statistics (DSD_TOURISM_INTER@DF_INBOUND), International tourist arrivals, South Africa, 2009 to 2025. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 12 Oct. 2026, https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_INTER%40DF_INBOUND&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/international-tourists/south-africa. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. 2026. OECD Inbound tourism: arrivals of non-resident overnight visitors (tourists), tourism demand surveys and frontier statistics (DSD_TOURISM_INTER@DF_INBOUND). International tourist arrivals, South Africa, 2009 to 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_INTER%40DF_INBOUND&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/international-tourists/south-africa.

Harvard

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2026) OECD Inbound tourism: arrivals of non-resident overnight visitors (tourists), tourism demand surveys and frontier statistics (DSD_TOURISM_INTER@DF_INBOUND), International tourist arrivals, South Africa, 2009 to 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_INTER%40DF_INBOUND&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/international-tourists/south-africa (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{organisation_international_tourist_arrivals_south_2025,
  author = {{Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development}},
  title = {{OECD Inbound tourism: arrivals of non-resident overnight visitors (tourists), tourism demand surveys and frontier statistics (DSD\_TOURISM\_INTER@DF\_INBOUND): International tourist arrivals, South Africa, 2009 to 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_INTER%40DF_INBOUND&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/international-tourists/south-africa. Publisher attribution: OECD. OECD Inbound tourism: arrivals of non-resident overnight visitors (tourists), tourism demand surveys and frontier statistics (DSD\_TOURISM\_INTER@DF\_INBOUND). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ\&df[id]=DSD\_TOURISM\_INTER\%40DF\_INBOUND\&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
TI  - OECD Inbound tourism: arrivals of non-resident overnight visitors (tourists), tourism demand surveys and frontier statistics (DSD_TOURISM_INTER@DF_INBOUND): International tourist arrivals, South Africa, 2009 to 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/12
PB  - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_INTER%40DF_INBOUND&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/international-tourists/south-africa
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/international-tourists/south-africa.
N1  - Publisher attribution: OECD. OECD Inbound tourism: arrivals of non-resident overnight visitors (tourists), tourism demand surveys and frontier statistics (DSD_TOURISM_INTER@DF_INBOUND). https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_TOURISM_INTER%40DF_INBOUND&df[ag]=OECD.CFE.TOU. Accessed 2026-10-12. Data reuse terms and downstream attribution: https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html.
ER  -
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Questions

What is the international tourist arrivals in South Africa?

International tourist arrivals in South Africa was 10.5 million in 2025, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. That is up 17.7% from 2024.

Where does this figure come from?

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. OECD Inbound tourism: arrivals of non-resident overnight visitors (tourists), tourism demand surveys and frontier statistics (DSD_TOURISM_INTER@DF_INBOUND). Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest international tourist arrivals in South Africa?

10.5 million in 2025, the highest value since 2009 in this series.

International tourist arrivals in other countries

Related statistics for South Africa

All statistics for South Africa | South Africa in figures