12 Nov 2024 17:46

China leads by foreign tourist arrivals in Russia in Jan-Sept 2024

MOSCOW. Nov 12 (Interfax) - Over 13 million foreign citizens, including almost 1.3 million tourists, visited Russia in January-September 2024, the Federal Security Service (FSB)'s Border Service said in a statistical report.

Almost 11% more foreigners visited Russia in the first nine months of this year, compared to the respective period of last year (11.75 million). The number of tourist arrivals practically tripled year-on-year.

Most foreigners visiting Russia for all purposes came from Uzbekistan (2.65 million arrivals). Kazakhstan was the runner-up with 2.63 million arrivals, and Tajikistan ranked third with 1.4 million arrivals. Following them were China (1.37 million), Kyrgyzstan (889,600), Abkhazia (539,750), Azerbaijan (401,800), Belarus (396,600), and Mongolia (281,100).

China was the leader by foreign tourist arrivals with 731,900 travelers seen in January-September. This is almost seven times more than in the respective period of last year. Germany ranked second with 52,400 tourist arrivals (up 24.4% versus last year), and Iran ranked third with 45,500 tourists, or 77% more than last year. Other top five members are Turkmenistan (45,600, up 93.4%) and Turkey (44,150, up 30.8%).

The top ten also includes the United Arab Emirates with 43,300 arrivals, Saudi Arabia (39,100), Kazakhstan (19,000), India (17,700), and Estonia (13,700).