International tourism in Mexico grows by 8.5% in January

Mexico received 8.5% more international tourists last January than in the same month of 2024, informed the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi).

The country received 3.94 million foreign tourists in the first month of 2025, compared to 3.63 million in the same period of the previous year, according to the report of the autonomous agency.

The main annual rebound occurred in border tourists, who in January 2025 grew by 24.3% year-on-year to over 1.55 million people. While those arriving by air decreased 0.8% to 2.13 million.

On the other hand, last January, total spending by international tourists rose 4.6% year-on-year to US$2.94 billion from a previous figure of US$3 billion.

Likewise, average spending per tourist decreased by 3.7% to US$778.6 last January compared to US$808.2 in the first month of 2024.

The data reflects the upward trend in tourism since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic in Mexico, which received nearly 41.95 million international tourists during 2023, about 10% more than in 2022, accompanied by revenues of US$28.5 billion, according to updated Inegi figures.

Mexico was the sixth most visited country in the world in 2022 and 2023, according to data from the World Tourism Organization and the government of President Claudia Sheinbaum, who has the goal of placing the nation in the top 5 worldwide.

Foreign exchange income from international visitors in 2024 was of US$30.2 billion, almost 6% more than last year.

The tourism-related economy, which Inegi calls tourism gross domestic product (GDP), grew by 0.9% annually in the third quarter of 2024, driven in particular by a 5.3% increase in consumption by foreign travelers.