Nearly 15.24 lakh foreigners visited India in 2021; highest from U.S., followed by Bangladesh

“Ten countries accounted for 74.39% of the total arrival of foreigners during 2021, while 25.61% of the incoming foreigners were from the rest of the nations, “ a Home Ministry official said.

“More than 15 lakh foreigners, including 4.29 lakh U.S. nationals and 2.4 lakh Bangladeshis, had visited India last year when the country was on an extended period of coronavirus restrictions and visa regulations,” officials said.

“Ten countries accounted for 74.39% of the total arrival of foreigners during 2021, while 25.61% of the incoming foreigners were from the rest of the nations, “ a Home Ministry official said. A total of 15,24,469 foreigners visited India between January 1 and December 31, 2021.

The maximum number of foreigners who visited India during this period were from the United States (4,29,860), followed by those from Bangladesh (2,40,554), United Kingdom (1,64,143), Canada (80,437) and Nepal (52,544).

“As many as 36,451 citizens from Afghanistan, 33,864 nationals from Australia, 33,772 from Germany, 32,064 from Portugal and 30,374 citizens of France visited India during 2021,” the official said.

All international flights were suspended during the nationwide lockdown, which was first announced in India from March 25 to April 21 in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and it was extended thrice till May 31.

Even though the government had announced gradual reopening of various activities from June 2020, many restrictions continued for the remaining months of 2020 and a few months in 2021.