South Africa recorded 10.5 million tourists in 2025, 17.7% more than in 2024 and 2.6% above the 2019 pre-pandemic level. The country’s wider travel system recorded 36.5 million travellers, including arrivals, departures, and transit movements. These figures come from Statistics South Africa’s 2025 tourism release; the 2024 comparisons below come from its Tourism Report 2024 and Tourism 2024 data story.
Contents
- Tourism recovery and total travel movements
- Where South Africa’s tourists come from
- How long visitors stay
- Why people visit South Africa
- Visitor age and gender profile
- BRICS markets and changing demand
- How tourists arrive
Tourism recovery and total travel movements
Statistics South Africa reported 10.5 million tourists in 2025. Tourist arrivals increased 17.7% from 2024, and the 2025 total was 2.6% higher than the 2019 pre-pandemic level. This places the annual tourist count above the last widely used pre-pandemic benchmark, although the figure describes arrivals during the year rather than the number of unique people who visited only once.
The broader movement count was much larger than the tourist total. South Africa recorded 36.5 million travellers in 2025. This included 18.9 million arrivals, 17.0 million departures, and 527,116 transit travellers. The categories cover travel movements, so they should not be read as a count of individual tourists or unique trips.
The 2024 baseline was about 30.8 million travellers in total. Arrivals accounted for 16.1 million movements, departures for 14.3 million, and transit movements for 469,000. According to Statistics South Africa’s Tourism 2024 data story, the 2024 total was 0.8% lower than in 2023 and 23.7% lower than in 2015. The 2025 movement figures therefore show a substantial increase over the reported 2024 levels, while the tourist-arrival measure provides the clearest direct comparison with the pre-pandemic benchmark.
| Measure | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Total travellers | About 30.8 million | 36.5 million |
| Arrivals | 16.1 million | 18.9 million |
| Departures | 14.3 million | 17.0 million |
| Transit travellers | 469,000 | 527,116 |
| Tourists | Not stated in the supplied 2024 figures | 10.5 million |
Sources: Statistics South Africa, Tourism Report 2024 and Tourism 2024 data story; Statistics South Africa, 2025 tourism release.
Where South Africa’s tourists come from
South Africa’s tourism market remained strongly regional in 2025. SADC countries supplied 75.2% of tourists, while other African countries supplied 1.9%. Overseas countries accounted for 22.8%. These shares describe tourist origin groups for 2025 and separate neighbouring regional travel from long-haul and other international demand.
The 2024 distribution was similar but slightly different. SADC countries accounted for 74.0% of tourists, other African countries for 1.9%, and overseas countries for 24.0%. The shift in shares does not by itself identify the number of tourists in each group, but it shows that regional visitors remained the largest component in both years.
Overseas arrivals also had a clear multi-year growth pattern in the supplied Statistics South Africa release. Overseas tourist arrivals increased 42% from 2022 to 2023, then grew 3.7% from 2023 to 2024 and 11.9% from 2024 to 2025. The rates refer specifically to overseas tourist arrivals, not to all tourists or all travel movements.
For travel planners, this origin mix helps explain why South Africa can show both high total tourist volumes and a large range of trip styles. SADC visitors form the largest market and may have different transport and length-of-stay patterns from overseas visitors. Overseas arrivals are a smaller share of the total, but their year-on-year growth has been notable in the reported period.
How long visitors stay
The most common length of stay varied by origin group in 2025. SADC tourists most commonly stayed for 2 to 3 days. Other African tourists most commonly stayed for 4 to 7 days. Overseas tourists most commonly stayed for 8 to 14 days. These are the most frequent stay bands, not averages.
The reported average stay across all tourists was 26 days when multiple visits through the year were counted. That measurement detail matters: it is not necessarily the average duration of one uninterrupted holiday. By origin group, SADC tourists averaged 33 days in South Africa, other African tourists averaged 20 days, and overseas tourists averaged 14 days.
The relationship between the modal bands and the averages is therefore not a simple one. A short 2-to-3-day stay was the most common SADC pattern, but the reported SADC average was 33 days when the measurement counted multiple visits during the year. Overseas tourists most commonly stayed 8 to 14 days, while their reported average was 14 days. The figures should be used as complementary indicators rather than combined into an unsupported single estimate.
Why people visit South Africa
Holiday travel dominated South Africa’s tourist profile in 2025. Statistics South Africa reported that 97.3% of tourists travelled for holidays. Business travel accounted for 2.2%, study travel for 0.5%, and medical tourism for less than 0.1%.
The 2024 pattern was similarly leisure-led. Holidays accounted for 96.9% of tourists, business visits for 2.7%, and students for 0.4%. The supplied 2024 figures do not give a separate quantified share for medical tourism.
| Stated purpose | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Holiday | 96.9% | 97.3% |
| Business | 2.7% | 2.2% |
| Study or students | 0.4% | 0.5% |
| Medical tourism | Not stated | Less than 0.1% |
Sources: Statistics South Africa, Tourism Report 2024; Statistics South Africa, 2025 tourism release.
The purpose figures describe the composition of tourist visits, not the economic value of each segment. They show that leisure is the dominant reason for travel in both reporting periods, while business and study represent small minority shares. Because medical tourism is reported as less than 0.1% in 2025, it should not be treated as exactly zero.
Visitor age and gender profile
Men accounted for 57.4% of tourists in 2025, while women accounted for 42.6%. In 2024, the corresponding shares were 57.7% male and 42.3% female. The two annual profiles are close, with men representing a modest majority in each reported year.
The largest stated age groups in 2025 were travellers aged 35 to 44, who represented 28.8% of tourists, and those aged 25 to 34, who represented 23.6%. Children aged 0 to 14 accounted for 5.3%, while travellers aged 65 and above accounted for 5.8%. These percentages describe selected age bands and should not be added as though they form a complete age distribution; the supplied figures do not provide every band.
Same-day visitors had a more specific gender-and-age pattern. Women made up about 1.69 million same-day visitors in 2025, compared with about 1.66 million men. Among female same-day visitors, women aged 25 to 34 accounted for 54%. Among male same-day visitors, men aged 65 and older accounted for 56%.
The same-day visitor figures should be kept separate from the tourist profile. A same-day visitor is not being described in the same way as a tourist who stays overnight, so the two sets of percentages answer different questions about travel behaviour.
BRICS markets and changing demand
The 2025 release recorded 213,138 tourists from BRICS-origin markets. They represented 8.9% of all overseas arrivals. Within that group, India supplied 69,680 tourists, Brazil 63,848, Russia 41,708, and China 37,902.
| BRICS-origin market | Tourists in 2025 | Year-on-year change |
|---|---|---|
| India | 69,680 | Down 7.8% |
| Brazil | 63,848 | Up 28.1% |
| Russia | 41,708 | Up 35.7% |
| China | 37,902 | Down 8.5% |
Source: Statistics South Africa, 2025 tourism release.
The four country totals and the BRICS-origin total should not be treated as a complete global ranking of South Africa’s source markets. They are a defined subset of overseas arrivals in the reported release. The year-on-year changes also move in different directions: Russia and Brazil grew, while China and India declined.
The combination of a 213,138 BRICS-origin total and an 8.9% share of overseas arrivals provides context for the market’s scale. BRICS-origin travel was significant within the overseas segment, but it was not the majority of all tourists, because regional SADC travel made up 75.2% of the total tourist profile in 2025.
How tourists arrive
Transport patterns differed sharply by origin in 2024. SADC tourists arrived by road in 91.6% of cases. By contrast, overseas tourists arrived by air in 92.0% of cases, and other African tourists arrived by air in 89.0% of cases.
These figures are useful when interpreting the origin shares. The largest tourist group, SADC visitors, was predominantly associated with road arrivals in the 2024 report. Air travel was the dominant arrival mode for both overseas visitors and tourists from other African countries. The measures refer to how tourists arrived, not to every movement recorded in the total-traveller count.
For a South Africa itinerary, the statistics point to a market shaped by three distinct patterns: a large regional base, a growing overseas component, and different travel behaviours by origin. Regional visitors were most commonly associated with shorter stay bands and road arrivals, while overseas visitors were most commonly associated with longer stay bands and air arrivals. Those distinctions are descriptive patterns from Statistics South Africa’s reported periods, not forecasts of any individual’s trip.