Nigeria, Other African Countries Record 12% Tourism Growth in First-half 2025

Charles Ajunwa

Nigeria and other African countries recorded a combined 12 per cent increase in tourism between January-June 2025 compared to the same period last year.

This was disclosed in the United Nations latest half year report on global tourism obtained yesterday.

According to the report, international tourist arrivals grew five percent in the first six months of 2025 compared to the same period of 2024. This was about four percent above pre-pandemic levels.

The report revealed that almost 690 million tourists travelled internationally between January and June 2025, about 33 million more than in the same period of 2024, though results were mixed among regions and sub-regions.

“In the face of global challenges, international tourism continues to see strong momentum and resilience. The first half of 2025 brought growing arrival numbers and revenues for most destinations around the world, which contribute to local economies, jobs and livelihoods. Yet, this also reminds us of our great responsibility to ensure this growth is sustainable and inclusive and to work with all local stakeholders in that sense,” it stated.

Commenting on the report, UN Tourism Secretary-General, Zurab Pololikashvili, Africa saw the strongest performance while Asia Pacific continued to rebound.

The newest edition of the World Tourism Barometer assessed the sector’s performance by region and sub-region in the first six months of 2025.

“Africa saw a 12 percent increase in January-June 2025 compared to the same period last year. Both North Africa (+14%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (+11%) recorded double-digit growth this period. Europe welcomed nearly 340 million international tourists this first half of 2025, about four percent more than in 2024 and seven percent more than in 2019.

“Northern, Western and Southern Mediterranean Europe all recorded three percent growth this period despite uneven monthly results. Central and Eastern Europe continued to rebound strongly (+9%), but remained 11% below 2019 levels, according to available data.

“The Americas recorded three percent growth in January-June 2025, with mixed results across sub-regions. While South America (+14%) continued to enjoy solid growth, Central America saw a two percent increase in arrivals and North America saw flat results (+0%) mostly due to small declines in the United States and Canada. The Caribbean (+0%) also saw weaker performance partly due to softening demand from its major source market, the United States.

“The Middle East recorded four percent fewer arrivals this six-month period, though after a very strong post-pandemic rebound, with 29 percent more arrivals than the same period of 2019, the strongest regional results relative to 2019.

“Arrivals in Asia and the Pacific grew 11 percent this period, which is 92 percent of the pre-pandemic figure (-8% compared to 2019). North-East Asia (+20%) saw the strongest performance relative to 2024, though it remained eight percent below 2019 levels.”

It noted that uncertainty derived from economic and geopolitical tensions could also weigh on travel confidence.

Lower consumer confidence was ranked as the third main factor affecting tourism in the September 2025 survey, while geopolitical risks (aside from ongoing conflicts) ranked fourth. The increase in trade tariffs (5th) and Travel requirements (6th) were also major concerns expressed by the Panel of Experts.

The latest UN Tourism Confidence Index predicted a slight uptick in confidence levels for the last four months of 2025.