For the year 2022, the Bureau of Immigration reported more than 6 million arrivals to the country.
In a statement, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said that 6,125,831 arrivals were handled by immigration officials in 2022. This is a major leap from the last two years, which saw a dramatic decrease in travelers following travel restrictions imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prior to the pandemic, the BI reported 17 million arrivals for the year 2019.
Tangsingco said while the country is not yet seeing pre-pandemic figures, the increase is already evident, and that the Bureau shares the optimism of the Tourism Department that travel is on the rebound, with more tourists arriving in the following months.
Based on the recorded arrivals, 3.9 million were Filipinos, while the top travelers to the country were passengers from the United States of America with 611,067 arrivals, South Korea (424,193), Australia (128,859), Canada (119,807), and Japan (118,807).