France is the most-visited country on Earth, and the gap keeps widening. A record 102 million international visitors arrived in 2025, up from 100 million in the Olympic year of 2024, according to Atout France, the national tourism development agency. International tourism revenue hit an all-time high of €77.5 billion in 2025 — 37% above 2019 — while the Louvre confirmed its position as the world's most-visited museum with 9 million visitors. This page gathers the latest official figures from Atout France, the Banque de France, Choose Paris Region, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower's operator SETE, current as of 2026.
Key France tourism statistics
- France welcomed a record 102 million international arrivals in 2025, retaining its title as the world's most-visited country (Atout France).
- International tourism revenue reached €77.5 billion in 2025 — up 9% on 2024 and 37% on 2019 (Banque de France, via Atout France).
- 2024 was itself a record: 100 million visitors and €71 billion in international revenue, up 12% on 2023 (French Ministry of Tourism).
- Visitors racked up 743 million overnight stays in France in 2025, with commercial-accommodation nights up 7.5% year on year (Euronews).
- Paris Region drew 48.7 million tourists in 2024, including a record 22.6 million international visitors, who helped push tourist spending to €23.4 billion (Choose Paris Region).
- The Louvre drew 9 million visitors in 2025 and the Eiffel Tower 6.75 million — both up on 2024.
- Tourism directly contributes 3.6% of French GDP (€82.1 billion), and hospitality and catering employ 1.3 million people in the private sector (Atout France).
The world's most-visited country
- France's 102 million international arrivals in 2025 beat runner-up Spain, which recorded 96.8 million foreign tourists (Euronews). See how the runner-up compares in our Spain tourism statistics.
- Spain still out-earns France — €105 billion in tourism revenue in 2025 versus France's €77.5 billion — though the gap is narrowing (Euronews).
- Roughly 76% of France's international visitors come from elsewhere in Europe (Euronews).
- The French government has set a target of €100 billion in annual tourism revenue by 2030 (Euronews).
- France's arrivals are up 13% on 2019, showing the recovery has turned into outright growth (Atout France).
Tourism revenue and the visitor economy
- International tourism receipts hit €77.5 billion in 2025, a record, after €71 billion in 2024 (Banque de France figures via Atout France).
- British visitors are France's biggest spenders: €7.9 billion in 2024, ahead of Americans on €6.9 billion — both up around 6% on 2023 (Banque de France, via The Connexion).
- Belgium, the UK, Germany, Switzerland and the United States are the top five revenue-generating markets (Campus France).
- Tourism's direct contribution to GDP is 3.6%, worth €82.1 billion, and hospitality and catering account for 6.5% of all private-sector salaried jobs (Atout France).
- Total tourism investment reached €18.7 billion in 2024, with an average of €21 billion invested annually in recent years (Atout France).
- France's official strategy now prioritises longer stays and higher-value trips — luxury hotels, gastronomy and wellness — over raw visitor volume (The Connexion). For the wider market context, see our luxury travel statistics.
Paris and the 2024 Olympic effect
- Paris Region welcomed 48.7 million tourists in 2024, up 2% on 2023, with tourist spending up 8% to €23.4 billion (Choose Paris Region).
- The Olympic and Paralympic period generated 7.1 million tourist stays, up 11% on the same period of 2023 (Choose Paris Region).
- During the Games, Greater Paris hosted 11.2 million visitors in total, and 9.5 million tickets were sold to spectators from 222 countries (Ville de Paris).
- Games-time hotel occupancy hit 84% (85.5% in the luxury segment), average room rates jumped 111% and revenue per available room rose 147% (Ville de Paris; Choose Paris Region).
- Air traffic through Paris airports reached 103 million passengers in 2024, up 4% on 2023 (Choose Paris Region).
- Holiday rentals boomed alongside hotels: 14.7 million rental nights were booked in Paris Region in 2024, up 24% year on year (Choose Paris Region).
Top source markets
- The United States is Paris Region's biggest international market with 2.7 million visitors in 2024, just ahead of the United Kingdom on 2.6 million (Choose Paris Region). Curious how traffic flows the other way? See our London tourism statistics.
- Italy (1.6 million), Germany (1.5 million) and Spain (1.4 million) complete Paris Region's top five (Choose Paris Region).
- Long-haul markets are surging: Brazilian visitor numbers to Paris Region rose 27% and Chinese numbers 37% in 2024 (Choose Paris Region).
- Nationwide, Chinese overnight stays jumped 40% and Japanese stays 20% in 2024, with India, Mexico, Canada and South Korea also growing strongly (Campus France).
- In 2025, German overnight stays grew a further 9% and US visitor numbers around 10% (Trip by Trip, citing French government figures).
Museums: the Louvre leads the world
- The Louvre welcomed 9 million visitors in 2025 — up from 8.7 million in 2024 and back above its 2023 level — keeping it the world's most-visited museum (Club Innovation & Culture France).
- In 2025, 73% of Louvre visitors were foreign; in 2024 the US alone supplied 13% of all visitors, and China's share more than doubled to 6% (Musée du Louvre).
- The Games briefly dented culture: museum and monument attendance fell about 20% during the Olympic fortnight before a strong post-Games rebound (Choose Paris Region).
- The Château de Versailles drew 8.4 million visitors in 2025, the Musée d'Orsay 3.79 million and the Arc de Triomphe 1.85 million (Club Innovation & Culture France).
- Montmartre's Sacré-Cœur basilica attracts an estimated 11 million visitors a year — more than the Eiffel Tower — fuelling overtourism concerns in the neighbourhood (Euronews).
The Eiffel Tower's exceptional year
- More than 6.75 million visitors went up the Eiffel Tower in 2025 — close to 450,000 more than in 2024 (SETE).
- A further 10 million people visited the tower's free-access forecourt during the year (SETE).
- French visitors make up around 21% of the tower's audience, followed by Americans (13%) and Germans (7.5%) — with Canada newly in the top seven (SETE).
- SETE credits the record to better visitor-flow management, favourable weather, the post-Olympic effect and the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris (SETE).
Sources
- Atout France — Tourism in the French economy
- Choose Paris Region / Visit Paris Region — 2024 tourism results press release
- Ville de Paris — Paris 2024 Games: 11.2 million visitors to Greater Paris
- SETE — An exceptional year for visitor numbers at the Eiffel Tower
- Musée du Louvre — 8.7 million visitors in 2024
- Club Innovation & Culture France — 2025 attendance at French museums and heritage sites
- Campus France — 2024, a record year for international tourism in France
- Euronews — France welcomed record visitor numbers in 2025
- The Connexion — France's 2024 tourism boom and upgraded strategy
- Trip by Trip — France welcomes 102 million visitors in 2025
