Tourism across the European Union reached another historic milestone in 2025. Accommodation establishments throughout the EU recorded nearly 3.1 billion overnight stays, marking a 2.2% increase compared with 2024. This represents more than 66 million additional nights, confirming the continued strong recovery and growth of the tourism sector.
International visitors were the main driver of this growth. Overnight stays by foreign tourists increased by 3.4%, adding almost 50 million nights. Domestic tourism also grew, though at a slower pace, rising by 1.1%, which translated into roughly 16.7 million additional overnight stays.
Four countries accounted for the majority of tourism activity in the EU. Spain led the ranking with around 513 million overnight stays, followed by Italy with nearly 477 million, France with about 472 million, and Germany with over 442 million. Together, these four destinations represented more than 61% of all overnight stays in the European Union.
At the other end of the scale were smaller tourism markets. The lowest numbers of overnight stays were recorded in Luxembourg (3.6 million), Latvia (5 million) and Estonia (6.7 million).
Tourism expanded in the majority of EU countries. 24 out of 27 member states reported growth in overnight stays. The strongest increases were seen in Malta (+10.1%) and Poland (+7.2%), highlighting their growing popularity among travelers. Declines were limited and occurred mainly in Luxembourg, Romania, and Ireland.
The final months of the year confirmed the positive trend. In the fourth quarter of 2025, overnight stays across the EU increased by 3%, with growth recorded in most member states.
