Saudi Arabia has recorded the largest increase in international tourist arrivals compared with pre-pandemic levels, according to new data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The OECD compared inbound visitor numbers between 2019 and 2025 across 53 countries, finding that Saudi Arabia saw a 67 per cent rise, with 29 million arrivals in 2025. Morocco followed with 53 per cent growth, and Egypt with 47 per cent, highlighting the growing appeal of the Middle East and North Africa region.
At the other end of the scale, Israel experienced the steepest decline, with arrivals falling from 4.5 million in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2025, a decrease of 71 per cent. Ireland recorded a 32 per cent drop, while Argentina saw a 23 per cent fall.
Across all 53 countries studied, tourist numbers rose by four per cent compared with pre-pandemic levels, reaching 1.5 billion in 2025. In the United Kingdom, an estimated 43.6 million inbound visitors were received in 2025, up from 39 million in 2019, though the figure remains a prediction due to changes in methodology by the Office for National Statistics.
