Tourist Spending in Japan Hits Record ¥8 Trillion

Japan’s inbound travel spending from foreign tourists broke an all-time record in 2024, having fully rebounded from the Covid-19 pandemic travel slump with an impressive 8.1 trillion yen. This is according to data published by the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. The 2024 figure marks an increase of 68.8 percent from the 2019, pre-pandemic annual spending of 4.8 trillion yen, even with the weakened yen.

Last year, the average spending per traveler also saw an increase. Where per-capita spending for foreign tourists in Japan had been 213,000 yen in 2023, it rose to 227,000 yen in 2024.

Looking at the spending patterns of inbound travelers by categories in 2019 and 2024, a greater share of spending went into accommodation in the latter year (29.4 percent in 2019; 33.6 percent in 2024), while a smaller share was spent on shopping (34.7 percent in 2019; 29.5 percent in 2024).

The countries from which visitor spending was highest were China (excluding Hong Kong and Macau) with 21.2 percent, Taiwan with 13.4 percent, South Korea at 11.8 percent and the United States at 11.1 percent. In 2019, China had accounted for by far the biggest share at 36.8 percent, followed by Taiwan at 11.5 percent and South Korea at 8.8 percent.