Foreign spending accounts for 1.17% of Korean GDP in 2025: report
Foreign tourists shop at Lotte Mart in Seoul Station, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
Foreign tourists' spending in Korea accounted for 1.17 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025 amid a rise in inbound travelers, a central bank report showed Wednesday.
A total of 18.94 million foreigners visited Korea in 2025, staying an average of 6.5 days and spending an average of $177.8 per day per person, according to the report published by the Bank of Korea (BOK).
Their spending on goods and services, classified as tourism exports under the travel account in the balance of payments, accounted for 2.5 percent of the country's total private consumption of around 1,200 trillion won ($843.1 billion) last year.
Foreign tourists' spending contributed an average of 0.04 percentage point to annual GDP growth over the 2000-2025 period. The contribution rose to 0.15 percentage point in 2024 and 2025, when Korea reported a sharp increase in foreign arrivals.
By comparison, Japan, which welcomed more than 40 million foreign visitors last year, posted tourism exports equivalent to 1.46 percent of its GDP.
The BOK said Korea needs to make further efforts not only to attract more foreign tourists but also to encourage them to stay longer and spend more in order to maximize the economic benefits of tourism.
According to the report, raising tourism's contribution to GDP to Japan's level would require a 25 percent increase in foreign tourists' spending, which could be achieved by increasing the number of foreign visitors by 4.81 million to 23.75 million.
Alternatively, the country could achieve the same result if the current number of foreign visitors stayed an average of 8.2 days and spent $223 per day, the report said.