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Kathmandu, January 1: In 2025 (January–December), a total of 1,158,459 international tourists visited Nepal. This figure is slightly higher than in 2024 and represents a 97 percent recovery compared to the pre–COVID year of 2019.

In December 2025 alone, 98,190 international tourists arrived in Nepal, which is 7 percent higher than in December 2024. This number is equivalent to 97 percent of tourist arrivals recorded in December 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

India Tops Tourist Source Countries

Among the top five source countries sending tourists to Nepal in 2025, India ranked first. A total of 292,438 tourists arrived from India, accounting for 25.2 percent of total arrivals. This was followed by the United States with 112,316 tourists (9.7 percent), China with 95,480 (8.2 percent), the United Kingdom with 58,684 (5.1 percent), and Bangladesh with 57,545 tourists (5 percent).

Highest Arrivals from South Asia

From a regional perspective, South Asia (SAARC countries) accounted for the largest share of tourist arrivals in 2025. A total of 408,103 tourists arrived from this region, representing 35.2 percent of total arrivals.

Similarly, 253,311 tourists (21.9 percent) arrived from other Asian countries, 221,018 (19.1 percent) from Europe, 135,503 (11.7 percent) from the Americas, 53,695 (4.6 percent) from Oceania, 20,504 (1.8 percent) from the Middle East, and 4,320 (0.4 percent) from Africa. Tourist arrivals from other regions totaled 62,005 (5.5 percent).

Growing Foreign Currency Earnings and Investment in Tourism

During the period from Shrawan to Kartik of the current fiscal year 2082/83, Nepal earned Rs 27.15 billion in foreign currency from the tourism sector.

Likewise, from Shrawan to Mangsir, foreign direct investment commitments worth Rs 30.26 billion were received through 476 tourism-related projects.

Stakeholders have stated that the growth seen in tourist arrivals, foreign currency earnings, and foreign direct investment indicates that Nepal’s tourism sector is gradually returning to its pre–COVID-19 condition.

People’s News Monitoring Service.