The number of foreign visitors and tourism revenues in Türkiye rose to their new all-time highs in 2024, according to official data Friday, marking a milestone for the big emerging market economy that relies on foreign exchange to narrow its chronic current account deficit.
Revenue from tourists jumped 8.3% from the previous year to $61.1 billion (TL 2.19 trillion) and blew past the previous high of $54.3 billion in 2023 and well over the $34.5 billion in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) showed.
The figure also surpassed the target of $59.6 billion in the government's medium-term economic program and capped a year of consistent momentum in a vital industry that Türkiye relies on to help flip its chronic current account deficit to a surplus.
Separate data from the Culture and Tourism Ministry on Friday showed that the total number of visitors arriving in 2024 rose by 9.84% from the previous year to 62.27 million, including visitors of Turkish origin.
Foreign tourists' arrivals jumped by 6.95% year-over-year to 52.63 million, surpassing the previous high of 49.2 million in 2023.
In October, the government revised its target upward and said it expected the overall figure to reach 61 million at the end of 2024, up from an earlier estimate of 60 million.
Like in the previous year, arrivals in 2024 were spearheaded by tourists from Russia and Europe, mainly Germany and the United Kingdom.
More than 6.7 million Russians arrived in Türkiye last year the data showed. Tourists from Germany jumped to over 6.6 million, while arrivals from the United Kingdom rose to more than 4.4 million.
For 2025, the government estimates 64 million visitors and some $63.6 billion in revenues.
Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said the tourism industry played a crucial role in revitalizing economic activities and contributing to balanced economic growth.
"This strong performance in tourism has not only revived economic activities but also contributed to our balanced economic growth, providing employment opportunities to many people, especially the youth, and playing a significant role in improving our current account deficit through foreign exchange inflows," Yılmaz noted.
"These effects strengthen our country's policies of disinflation and balanced and inclusive growth," he wrote on social media platform X.
Türkiye's current account registered a deficit of $5.61 billion from January through November, according to the central bank data. Economists expected the gap to narrow from the previous year's $45.2 billion, given the tight monetary and fiscal policy. Surveys see the deficit for 2024 at around $10.5 billion.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said they estimate the gap to be around $10 billion-$11 billion for the whole year, standing at a ratio of below 1% of gross domestic product (GDP).
To improve the current account balance, the government has implemented measures to cap strong domestic demand, one of the main reasons for higher imports, and to boost investments and exports.
According to the TurkStat data, tourism revenues in the fourth quarter of 2024 rose by 14.5% to $13.79 billion, with visitor numbers increasing by 11.6% to 13.92 million. The average nightly expenditure per visitor also saw a 9% increase, reaching $97.
For the entire year, the average expenditure per visitor rose by 5.3% to $97, the data showed.
In the same period, tourism expenditures by residents traveling abroad decreased by 8.2%, amounting to $7.74 billion. Of this, $6.3 billion was spent on personal expenses, while $1.43 billion was spent on package tours.
The number of Turkish citizens traveling abroad increased by 2.9% to 11.39 million, with an average expenditure of $680 per person, according to the data.
