MALAYSIA set a new record in 2025, with more than 42.19 million international visitors, achieving the highest annual figure ever for the country.
Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, said that the number of 42,196,892 visitors increased by 11.2 per cent compared to 2024 and 20.4 per cent higher than the pre-pandemic era in 2019.
“This new record is a sign of strong confidence in Malaysia as a destination of choice for international visitors.
“It reflects the joint efforts of the government, industry and the people in reviving the country's tourism sector after the pandemic,” he said in a statement on the 2025 Work Progress Report.
He said Singapore remained the largest contributor with 21,076,783 visitors, surpassing the 20 million mark for the first time.
China recorded the strongest growth with 4,661,878 visitors, up 25.1 per cent compared to 2024 and 40 per cent compared to 2019, surpassing Indonesia as the second largest market.
Indonesia also recorded an encouraging achievement with 4,266,358 visitors, up 2.9 per cent compared to the previous year and almost 10 per cent higher than 2019.
Tiong said that Malaysia, as the ASEAN Chairman in 2025, also recorded strong arrivals from member countries with a total of 30,722,672 visitors, up almost nine per cent year-on-year.
He explained that India continued to show positive development as the number of visitors increased to 1,565,194 people, up 14.6 per cent, thus helping South Asia surpass two million visitors for the first time with 2,128,465 visitors.
“Arrivals from Central Asia also increased to 75,312 visitors in 2025, almost double compared to about 37,000 in 2019,” he said.
Meanwhile, a total of 21 countries and territories now contribute more than 100,000 visitors a year to Malaysia, the highest number ever recorded.
From North America, visitors from the United States exceeded 330,000 people, while Canada recorded 112,432 visitors, thus surpassing the six-digit figure for the first time.
For the European market, almost 1.5 million visitors were recorded, with the United Kingdom contributing 429,974 visitors, followed by France (228,173) and Germany, which also recorded a new record of 188,928 visitors.
In related developments, stronger air connectivity was identified as one of the main factors contributing to the surge in international visitor arrivals.
King Sing said that 169,877 international flights with over 34.2 million seats were recorded operating to Malaysia throughout the past year.
“Strong and reliable air connectivity is the backbone of inbound tourism. The growth of international flights plays a key role in supporting the surge in visitors,” he explained.
According to him, throughout 2025, Malaysia will add 59 new scheduled routes and 30 charter routes, making a total of 89 new routes connecting 23 countries and territories to 11 airports nationwide.
China emerged as the largest contributor with 18 new scheduled routes and 20 charter routes, followed by Indonesia with 10 new scheduled routes and Singapore, which added five scheduled routes and two charter services.
The new routes involved 11 airports, including KLIA and Subang in the Klang Valley; Kota Kinabalu and Tawau in Sabah; Kuching and Miri in Sarawak; and Penang, Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Langkawi and Kota Bharu.
At the same time, a total of 92 airlines operated 498 direct international routes to Malaysia, comprising 86 foreign airlines and six local airlines.
“In total, they provided 169,877 international flights and 34,203,168 seats throughout the year. This level of capacity is not only a sign of the airlines’ confidence, but is also important to sustain Malaysia’s growth as an international visitor destination,” he said.
Of this total, 104 international routes offer over 100,000 seats per year, with 93 routes to KLIA, nine to Penang International Airport and one each to Kuching and Ipoh.
According to Tiong, the high-capacity routes connect most cities in Southeast Asia to Malaysia, including 38 routes to KLIA, eight to Penang and one to Ipoh.
He said that in total, 47 main routes are operating, including four routes that each offer over 500,000 seats to Malaysia throughout 2025. – March 28, 2026
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