Costa Rica closes 2025 with a 1% increase in tourist arrivals
The year 2025 ended with positive numbers for tourist arrivals by air through the Juan Santamaría and Guanacaste international airports
According to data from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT), based on records from the General Directorate of Migration and Foreigners (DGME), 2,689,278 visitors arrived in the country between January and December of the previous year. This figure represents a 1% increase compared to 2024, when 2,661,488 arrivals were recorded.
Additionally, a significant increase of 13.6% was recorded for the month of December 2025, going from 278,437 incomes in 2024 to 316,226 in the same period of 2025.
William Rodríguez, Minister of Tourism, highlighted that these figures are the result of the efforts made by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) in a highly competitive global environment.
“This figure demonstrates the recovery in the last quarter, especially during the month of December, with the arrival of just over 316,000 tourists who placed their trust in Costa Rica for their end-of-year vacations. Strategic promotional efforts in our main markets and collaborative work with the private sector to improve service and the product have yielded the desired results,” the minister stated.
Performance by issuing market
North America remains the primary source of tourists for our country. With nearly 2 million tourists expected in 2025, the United States leads the list with almost 1.6 million visitors, followed by Canada with 260,000 and Mexico with over 94,000. All of these countries saw positive growth compared to 2024.
Europe as a region recorded the arrival of 419,820 tourists from France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Although this represented a slight decrease of 2.1% in the year-to-date total, the European market showed strong dynamism in December with a growth of 7.4%, a trend that is expected to continue in 2026.
South America, for its part, showed an annual growth of 14.5%, going from 126,770 revenues in 2024 to 145,148 in 2025. Argentina, Brazil and Colombia consolidated themselves as the three main issuers in the region.
Source: ICT.