SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA / RankWire.AI / – South Korea posted a $596.6 million tourism surplus in June 2026, its strongest monthly result since the COVID-19 pandemic. The balance improved by about $1.44 billion from June 2025, when the country recorded an $846.8 million deficit. Korea Tourism Organization data placed June as the second-highest monthly tourism surplus on record. The only larger result came in October 2008, when the surplus reached $661.5 million.
The June figure extended South Korea’s return to a positive tourism balance for a fourth consecutive month. The country had recorded deficits for 72 straight months from March 2020 through February 2026. January produced a $1.4034 billion deficit, followed by a $1.0993 billion shortfall in February. The balance moved into surplus in March at $263.8 million. It remained positive at $159.9 million in April and $220.5 million in May.
Tourism receipts reached $2.784 billion in June, while spending by South Korean travelers abroad totaled $2.1874 billion. Foreign visitors spent an average of $1,397 per person during the month. South Korean outbound travelers spent an average of $1,091 each. The gap between inbound tourism receipts and outbound spending created the $596.6 million surplus. That marked the widest positive monthly balance in more than 17 years.
Foreign visitor numbers rise across major markets
South Korea received 1,993,128 international visitors in June, up 23.1% from the same month in 2025. China supplied 649,582 visitors and remained the country’s largest inbound tourism market. Arrivals from China increased 36.2% from a year earlier. Japan followed with 348,216 visitors, up 21.3%, while Taiwan accounted for 223,127 arrivals. Visitors from the Americas totaled 219,948, and European arrivals reached 119,445 during June.
International arrivals totaled 10,709,919 during the first six months of 2026, representing annual growth of 21%. Foreign tourist credit card spending reached 10.0389 trillion won over the same period. That total increased 50.8% from the first half of 2025. June card spending alone reached 2.0544 trillion won, a year-on-year increase of 66.4%. The Korea Tourism Organization also recorded 395,246 international arrivals through regional airports in June, up 42.5%.
Tourism receipts strengthen as arrivals expand
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recorded gains from several long-haul markets during the first half. Arrivals from the Americas reached 1,077,287, rising 12.7% from a year earlier. European arrivals increased 20.2% to 738,943 during the six-month period. The United States accounted for 811,974 visitors, an increase of 11.1%. Canada contributed another 157,003 arrivals, up 17.1% compared with the first half of 2025.
South Korea’s latest monthly surplus follows three years of annual tourism deficits above $10 billion. The country recorded deficits of $10.38 billion in 2023 and $10.21 billion in 2024. The annual shortfall reached $10.76 billion in 2025. By June 2026, however, the monthly balance had remained positive for four consecutive months. June tourism receipts exceeded outbound tourism spending by $596.6 million, producing South Korea’s largest monthly surplus since the pandemic and its second-highest ever.
