214 countries and territories189 of 193 UN membersmonthly to 2026-09back to 1926
Monthly arrivals, nights, spend since 2015, with 8 worked statistics. Latest 2026-08, 2 months behind.
Visitor arrivals to South Korea reached 2,245,293 in August 2026, the highest figure for that calendar month on record. This was 23.3% above the same month a year before and 141.5% of the level recorded in August 2019. It marked the 36th consecutive month of year on year growth, and the year to date stood 21.6% above the same period in the previous year.
Recent months have shown a steady pattern of gains well above 2019 levels. The 2,245,293 arrivals in August compared with 2,093,223 in July, 1,993,128 in June, 2,045,992 in March, 2,027,860 in April and 1,945,809 in May. Each of these months registered year on year rises of between 18.8% and 26.7%, and sat between 124.0% and 144.6% of their 2019 level, with August and July 2026 the highest relative to 2019.
Among 16 Asia Pacific countries with data for August 2026, South Korea ranked second by year on year change. Vietnam was up 18.4%, Mongolia up 17.2%, Hong Kong up 5.9%, Malaysia down 1.0%, Thailand down 2.6% and Japan down 9.6%. Jet fuel was $3.72 a gallon, up 84.0% on a year, and the won was 0.6% weaker against the euro. Economic growth for 2026 is projected at 3.3%, and forecasts point to rises of 26.5% in September, 40.5% in October and 40.7% in November.
At a glance
| Latest month | August 2026 |
| Visitor arrivals | 2,245,293 |
| On a year | +23.3% |
| Against August 2019 | 141.5% |
| Year to date, on a year | +21.6% |
| Growth rank in Asia Pacific | 2 of 16 |
| Best month on record | August 2026 |
| Trust grade | A, 100 |
GET /v1/countries/KR/briefAnalystForeign visitor arrivals to South Korea, and the change on a year
South Korea against its rivals
GET /v1/compare?country=KRDeveloper| Country | Latest | Figure | On a year | Vs 2019 | Year to date | Rivalry with South Korea |
|---|
The last six months
| Month | Visitor arrivals | On a year | Vs 2019 | Vs 3-year average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2026 | 2,245,293 | +23.3% | 141.5% | +50.6% |
| Jul 2026 | 2,093,223 | +20.8% | 144.6% | +50.5% |
| Jun 2026 | 1,993,128 | +23.1% | 135.0% | +49.6% |
| May 2026 | 1,945,809 | +19.4% | 131.0% | +49.1% |
| Apr 2026 | 2,027,860 | +18.8% | 124.0% | +49.9% |
| Mar 2026 | 2,045,992 | +26.7% | 133.2% | +57.1% |
The next three months
Each country's own model, remade every night as figures arrive, with an 80% range. The first month is free to see; the rest come with Intel.
Who South Korea competes with for visitors
Ranked by how much of their visitors come from the same markets, how alike their seasons are, and how close they are in size. Open any of them to see its own rivals.
Rivalry is worked out from the figures each destination publishes and is remade every day. As data: /v1/countries/KR/rivals, on Developer and up.
Top origin markets, share of arrivals
What is held for South Korea
| Measure | Frequency | Breakdown | Series | From | Latest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arrivals | Monthly | Total | 1 | 2015-01 | 2026-08 |
| Arrivals | Monthly | Origin | 217 | 2015-01 | 2026-08 |
| Arrivals | Annual | Total | 1 | 2008 | 2025 |
| Nights | Annual | Total | 8 | 2008 | 2025 |
| Nights | Annual | Accommodation | 2 | 2008 | 2024 |
| Spend | Quarterly | Total | 4 | 1976-Q1 | 2026-Q2 |
| Spend | Quarterly | Purpose | 2 | 2010-Q1 | 2012-Q4 |
| Spend | Annual | Total | 5 | 1976 | 2025 |
| Spend | Annual | Purpose | 2 | 2010 | 2012 |
| Departures | Annual | Total | 1 | 2008 | 2025 |
Monthly arrivals: 100.0% of months held since 2015, none missing. See every month
Get South Korea in one call
# every arrivals month, Developer plan curl "https://api.tourismapi.com/v1/arrivals?country=KR" \ -H "X-API-Key: $TOURISM_API_KEY" # the whole country in one file, Intel plan curl -o kr.csv "https://api.tourismapi.com/v1/bulk/KR.csv" \ -H "X-API-Key: $TOURISM_API_KEY"