International tourists who visited Brazil spent US$ 800.6 million in the country in January 2024, according to the Central Bank (BC). This amount is the highest ever recorded and 1.5% higher than the revenue accumulated in 2014, the year Brazil hosted the FIFA World Cup.
The president of the Brazilian Tourism Agency, Marcelo Freixo, celebrated the result. “We broke the revenue record in 2023 and now the Lula government starts the year with another historic result. This victory is the result of the work of Embratur, the dedication of the entire tourism trade, and the performance of the president, who is reconnecting our country with the world, reaffirming values such as democracy, dialogue, and sustainability. Brazil is back, and the world understood the message.
Economically, January is one of the hottest periods for tourism in Brazil, thanks to summer, which attracts foreign visitors especially for the sun and beach. During this period, 956,737 tourists from abroad came to the country.
Argentina remains the main source country of tourists to Brazil, although it recorded a 19% decrease during the period due to the economic problems it faces. There were 110,310 fewer tourists compared to January 2023, when 562,446 Argentinians traveled to Brazil to enjoy the summer and pre-carnival festivities.
The second largest source of visitors in January was Paraguay, which showed an increase in the number of entries into the country by 19,454, rising from 84,884 in January 2023 to 104,338 in 2024. The percentage growth was 22.9%.
In third place for entries in January was Chile, which also showed the highest percentage growth: 47.8%. The Andean country went from 52,217 tourists to Brazil in the first month of 2023 to 77,221 in January last, an increase of 25,004 visitors.
The United States ranks fifth, with an increase in the number of tourists in January reaching 8.9%. The country went from 47,651 in January last year to 51,919 this year, 4,268 more. The United States is also the only non-Latin American nation on the list of the 10 countries that sent the most tourists to Brazil in January 2024.
Source: Embratur