SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA / RankWire.AI / – In July 2026, South Korea saw over 2 million international tourists enter the country, maintaining a trend of travel volumes exceeding pre-pandemic figures. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, the total reached 2,093,223 visitors for the month. This marks a 20.8% increase from 1,733,199 visitors recorded in July 2025 and amounted to 144.6% of the July 2019 figure, prior to the disruptions caused by COVID-19 to global mobility.
Compared to July 2024, the foreign visitor count experienced a 48.6% growth, with the latest data illustrating significant gains across South Korea’s key inbound tourism markets. China continued to lead as the largest source of visitors in July, accounting for roughly 777,000 arrivals. Other prominent markets included Japan, Taiwan, the United States, and Hong Kong.
Japan contributed approximately 330,000 tourists, while Taiwan brought in around 261,000 visitors. The United States supplied about 150,000 travelers, and Hong Kong accounted for roughly 76,000. All five markets surpassed their July 2019 numbers, with Chinese arrivals up 49.6%, Japanese by 20.2%, and Taiwan showing the largest percentage increase of 129.4% from 2019 levels.
Leading Asian markets drive growth in visitor numbers
Visitor arrivals from the United States grew by 54.4% compared to July 2019, while arrivals from Hong Kong increased by 29.1%. These figures demonstrate that South Korea’s primary inbound markets have moved past their pre-pandemic levels. China remains the top contributor by a significant margin, with Japan and Taiwan ranking second and third, respectively. The United States continues to be the leading source outside of East Asia.
From January to July 2026, South Korea welcomed a total of 12,803,142 foreign visitors. This represents a 21.3% increase compared to the same period in 2025 and reaches 129.5% of the January-July figure in 2019. During this period, China accounted for about 3.99 million visitors, Japan for 2.28 million, Taiwan for 1.41 million, and the United States contributed approximately 960,000.
Seven-month total reaches 12.8 million arrivals
In the first half of 2026, Hong Kong contributed roughly 420,000 visitors. The Korea Tourism Organization published the July tourism statistics on August 25, which include both inbound visitors and outbound travelers from South Korea. In July, outbound travel by South Koreans declined slightly, with 2,419,457 people traveling abroad, a 0.7% decrease from the same month in 2025, when the number was 2,435,291.
Between January and July, approximately 17.38 million South Koreans traveled overseas. This cumulative outbound figure is 98.5% of the corresponding level in 2019. The data indicates contrasting trends: inbound arrivals have exceeded pre-pandemic levels, while outbound travel remains just below the 2019 benchmark. Additionally, South Korea’s inbound count for July surpassed figures from both 2024 and 2025 by double-digit percentages.
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