International Visitor Spending in Japan Surges to ¥8 Trillion

Preliminary figures published by the Japan Tourism Agency reveal that annual spending by international visitors to Japan in 2024 reached a record high of ¥8.1 trillion, rising by 53.4% to smash the former record of ¥5.3 trillion set the previous year. This came in a year when there was also a new high of 36.9 million international visitors. Average individual spending among overseas travelers to Japan rose by 6.8% to ¥227,000.

By category, most spending went on lodging at ¥2.7 trillion, followed by shopping at ¥2.4 trillion and food and beverages at ¥1.2 trillion.

The top total spenders by country or region were China, accounting for 21.3% of all spending (¥1.7 trillion), ahead of Taiwan with 13.4% (¥1.1 trillion) and South Korea with 11.8% (¥1.0 trillion). China’s share has dropped significantly compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, but its spending in yen is around the same.

Britain topped the list for average individual spending at ¥383,000, just ahead of Australia at ¥382,000 and Spain at ¥370,000.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)