International visitors who arrived in the country hit 5.45 million, but still way short of the 8.3 million tourist arrivals the country recorded in 2019.

In its official count, the Department of Tourism on Tuesday said a total of 5,450,557 international visitors entered the country from 1 January to 31 December 2023, of which 91.80 percent or the bulk of international arrivals recorded at 5,003,475 were foreigners.

The remaining 8.20 percent, or 447,082, were overseas Filipinos.

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

South Korea retains its top spot as the country's main source of international visitors, getting 26.41 percent of the pie which delivered 1,439,336 foreign tourists. 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).

Other foreigners who visited the country from other top source markets after China were from Canada, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia.