International visitors to the Philippines totaled 5.45 million in 2023, surpassing the Department of Tourism's target but still falling way short of the 8.3 million foreign tourist arrivals recorded in 2019.

 The DoT on Tuesday said 5,450,557 international visitors came into the country from 1 January to 31 December 2023, of whom 5,003,475 or 91.80 percent were foreigners. The remaining 447,082, or 8.20 percent, were overseas-based Filipinos.

Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco said the overall figure was around 650,000 higher than the target of 4.8 million international visitors projected to visit the country for the entire year.

South Korea retained the top spot as the source of international visitors, with 1,439,336 tourists, or 26.41 percent.

It was followed by the United States with 903,299 tourists (16.57 percent), Japan with 305,580 (5.61 percent), Australia with 266,551 (4.89 percent), and China with 263,836 (4.84 percent).

Tourists from Canada, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Malaysia rounded out the number of visitors to the country.

Total receipts from international visitors surged to an estimated P482.54 billion in 2023, higher by 124.87 percent compared to the P214.58 billion estimated visitor receipts in 2022.

In 2019, or the pre-pandemic period, the DoT recorded P482.15 billion in international tourism receipts.

The country has achieved an estimated 66-percent recovery rate after its all-time high international visitor arrivals in 2019.

Earlier, Frasco said the DoT baseline target for international visitor arrivals in 2024 is 7.7 million.

"My deepest appreciation goes to every tourism stakeholder, collaborative partner, and passionate contributor who propelled our shared aspirations forward. Under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s guiding vision and leadership, tourism has become a pivotal force driving our nation's economic resurgence," she said.