Verified data · Primary sources · Updated July 21, 2026
Nepal Tourism Statistics 2026
Every key Nepal tourism number in one maintained reference: international arrivals by year and month, source markets, Everest permits and summits, and trekking-region visitor counts — each figure traced to the Nepal Tourism Board, the Department of Tourism or a major outlet reporting them. Free to cite with attribution; updated as official figures are released.
1,158,459
International arrivals, 2025
620,453
Arrivals Jan–Jun 2026 (+7.4% YoY)
1,008
Everest summits, spring 2026 (record)
25.2%
Share of 2025 arrivals from India
International arrivals by year
Annual international visitor arrivals, 2014–2025. Source: Nepal Tourism Board / Ministry of Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation.
2025 closed at 1,158,459 arrivals — up 0.96% on 2024 and about 97% of the 2019 pre-pandemic record. The strongest single month of 2025 was October (128,443 arrivals), at the heart of the autumn trekking season.
2026 so far: record pace
Monthly arrivals by air, January–June 2026 (Nepal Tourism Board). H1 total: 620,453 vs 577,689 in H1 2025 — up 7.4%.
June 2026 (91,363) was the best June ever recorded — 19.5% above June 2025 and 22% above even pre-pandemic June 2019 (74,883).
Where visitors come from
In 2025 the top source markets were India (292,438 visitors, 25.2%), the United States, China, the United Kingdom and Bangladesh. The June 2026 breakdown below shows the most recent official month on record.
June 2026 arrivals from India (41,809) were the highest monthly Indian total ever recorded — nearly 46% of the month — with SAARC countries together contributing 52.8% of all arrivals.
Everest & the trekking regions
Everest, spring 2026 — a triple-record season
- 1,008 summits — the most in any season, ever (Department of Tourism).
- 494 climbing permits issued, beating the previous record of 458.
- 274 summits on May 20 alone — a single-day record, surpassing 2019’s 223.
- Across all peaks, 1,195 permits went to 149 teams on 31 mountains by June 1, 2026.
- The Everest royalty is now US$15,000 per climber (raised from $11,000 in September 2025) — record royalty revenue this season.
Trekking regions, by the numbers
- 246,575 foreign visitors entered the Annapurna Conservation Area in Jan–Oct 2025 — an all-time record for Nepal’s most-visited trekking region.
- April 2025 was Annapurna’s single busiest month: 44,763 visitors.
- The restricted Manaslu Conservation Area saw 12,512 visitors in the same fiscal year — roughly a 20-to-1 gap with Annapurna.
- Since March 2026, solo trekkers can obtain Restricted Area Permits (licensed guide still mandatory) — see our permits guide.
Where the real risk is: descent, not summit
A 2026 mortality study covering every recorded Everest expedition from 1921 to 2024(192 deaths in the earlier era, 117 in 2007–2024) found that more than 75% of all climber deaths happened during descent, not the climb up. Overall mortality above Base Camp fell from 1.4% (1921–2006) to 0.7% (2007–2024) as forecasting, fixed ropes and oxygen systems improved — but the descent gap between clients and Sherpa guides hasn’t closed at the same pace.
75%+
Of Everest deaths occur on descent
1.4%→0.7%
Mortality above Base Camp, 1921–2006 vs 2007–2024
3.0%→0.8%
Spring summit-route death rate, same periods
8×
Client vs Sherpa descent death-rate gap
Source: ‘Updates to Mortality on Mount Everest: 1921–2024’ (Dodge et al., The Journal of Physiology, 2026), reported by Medical Xpress . The same physiology applies below the summit too — on Island Peak, Mera Peak, or the high passes above Everest Base Camp, the danger window opens on the way down, tired and dehydrated, not on the way up. It’s why turn-around times and NMA-certified guiding matter on any high-altitude route, not just Everest itself.
Citing this page
Journalists, bloggers, students and researchers are welcome to use these figures with attribution:
Source: “Nepal Tourism Statistics 2026”, Travel Himalaya Nepal — travelhimalayanepal.com/nepal-tourism-statistics (data: Nepal Tourism Board / Department of Tourism)
Primary sources
Behind every number is a trail
We have guided 5,000+ of those treks ourselves since 1998. If the data got you curious, the mountains do the rest.