Saudi Arabia attracts 123m tourists in record year

Saudi Arabia’s visitor numbers climbed to a record 123 million in 2025, while tourism spending increased to SR304 billion (US$81.1 billion), according to the Ministry of Tourism’s (MoT) 2025 Annual Statistical Report.

 

Visitor numbers increased approximately 6% year-on-year, while tourism spending rose 7% compared with 2024. International arrivals reached 29.3 million, generating SR176.6 billion (US$47.1 billion), while domestic tourism accounted for 93.3 million trips and SR127.1 billion (US$33.9 billion) in spending.

 

Non-religious travel accounted for 52% of inbound overnight visits in 2025, up from 44% in 2019, becoming the largest purpose of travel for the first time. 

 

Tourism employment surpassed 1 million jobs, with women representing 47% of Saudi nationals employed in tourism-related activities, compared with 5% at the end of 2018. The sector also recorded a SR49.4 billion (US$13.2 billion) surplus in the travel account of the balance of payments, contributing more than 61% of Saudi’s total services exports.

 

RELATED:

Saudi Arabia to double tourism GDP as sector grows to 5%  

Madinah tourism spending jumps 22%

Saudi Arabia leads Middle East tourism growth in 2025

 

Saudi’s tourism sector recorded a 5% to 6% slowdown during the first five months of 2026 compared with the same period last year, attributing the decline to the Iran conflict. Speaking recently at the Fii Priority Europe summit, Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al Khateeb said the slowdown had been “controllable”, with religious tourism helping to cushion the impact as millions of Muslims continued travelling to Makkah for Umrah and Hajj.

 

The kingdom is now targeting tourism’s contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) to reach SAR600 billion (US$160 billion) by 2030, doubling from around SAR300 billion (US$80 billion) in 2025. At the Public Investment Fund (PIF) Private Sector Forum in February 2026, Al Khateeb said tourism’s contribution to GDP had increased from 3.5% in 2019 to 5% in 2025, with a target of 10% by the end of the decade.

 

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) also reported continued momentum across the sector, estimating that travel and tourism contributed US$178 billion to Saudi’s GDP in 2025, up 7.4% year on year.

 

For more information, visit www.mt.gov.sa