Riviera Maya, Q.R. — Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism Josefina Rodríguez Zamora says over 88 million people visited the country last year. One of the busiest months was during the U.S. government shutdown with over 4.5 million heading to the border in October, a 54% increase over October 2024.
Rodríguez Zamora reported that from January to November 2025, 88.1 million visitors entered the country representing a growth of 13.8% compared to the previous year.
She says during the first 11 months of 2025, foreign exchange earnings generated by international visitors amounted to $31.22 billion dollars, 6.7% more than in the same period of 2024, according to the International Travelers Surveys of the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI).
According to Rodríguez Zamora, in November 2025 alone, nearly 8.8 million visitors entered the country, representing an increase of 15.6% compared to the same month in 2024.
She highlighted that during this period, Mexico’s ports received 10.1 million cruise ship passengers and brought in $847.9 million in foreign exchange, representing increases of 12.3% and 13.5% compared to 2024, respectively.
“The data tells us of an unprecedented year for tourism in Mexico, not only because of the scale of the figures, but also because of the consistency with which they have been maintained throughout the year,” she stated.
As for international tourists, she reported from January to November 2025 Mexico recorded 42.6 million international visitors, a figure 5.8 percent higher than the same period in 2024.
She detailed that the average expenditure of international tourists by air was $1,229.40 USD, an increase of 5.9 percent compared to the same period in 2024, 22.1 percent more compared to 2019.
Full figures that include the month of December were not provided in the numbers she released, however, according to the National Migration Institute (INM), during 2025, 46 million international visitor arrived by air, land and sea.
A large number of those visitors were recorded entering the country along its U.S. borders. October was one of the busiest months with over 8.2 million people crossing the border into Mexico. Inegi (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía) reported during October 2025, 11.0% more visitors entered Mexico from abroad, while 6.1% more residents left the country, year-on-year.
The International Traveler Surveys, Inbound Tourism Survey and Border Traveler Survey, provide information on international visitors residing abroad who visit the country (arrivals), and on residents of the country who visit abroad (departures), as well as their expenditures.
According to their figures, international visitor entries in October 2025 were 8,297,538, 11.0% more than in the same month of 2024. Of this number, 3,740,905 (45.1%) were international tourists, travelers residing abroad who stayed overnight in Mexico, representing a 0.4% increase compared to October of the previous year, and 4,556,633 (54.9%) were border excursionists.
The surge in October border tourism was the same month the U.S. government began its 43 day shut down with the average visitor spending $81.53 USD while in Mexico.
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