NEW DELHI: India’s outbound travel sector has bounced back stronger than ever, with a record 3.89 crore Indians travelling abroad in 2024, marking a 10.79 percent increase over the previous year.
The latest figures highlight a remarkable recovery and continued upward trajectory in international departures, following the pandemic-induced decline in 2020.
While the COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp decline of nearly 73 percent in 2020, the sector rebounded strongly, with a 152.62 percent surge in 2022 (2.16 crore) and continued growth in 2023 (2.78 crore) and also in 2024.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) remained the leading destination for Indian nationals, followed by Saudi Arabia, the United States (US), Thailand, Singapore, the United Kingdom (UK), Qatar, Canada, Kuwait, and Oman. Together, these top 10 countries accounted for approximately 71.16 percent of all Indian nationals’ departures during the year.
According to the “India Tourism Data Compendium 2025”, which was released by the Ministry of Tourism recently, the number of Indians travelling to the Maldives significantly dropped by 28 percent. Last year, 1.97 lakh departures were lodged, while the number in 2023 was 2.74 lakh. Notably, in 2024, the disparaging remark by three Maldivian ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visit to Lakshadweep sparked outrage and boycott calls against the Maldives on Indian social media.
As per the Ministry of Tourism data, 2.03 lakh Indians travelled to the archipelagic country in South Asia located in the eastern Arabian Sea in 2019. The departures plummeted to nearly 83,000 during 2020 but registered strong upward trends in the following years, with 3.17 lakh people leaving to the Maldives in 2021 and 3.04 lakh in 2022.
The Compendium shows more Indian nationals went to Pakistan in 2024 than the previous year. Total departure in 2024 was 30,620 while it was 17,405 in 2023. In 2019, just 4,723 people went to Pakistan. The number of Indian travelers increased in subsequent years--2021 (5,462) and 2022 (17,008).
“The overall trend underscores the growing propensity of Indian nationals to travel abroad, supported by factors such as increased disposable income, improved air connectivity, and greater exposure to global destinations. The data also reflects the resilience of outbound travel demand, with a sharp rebound observed within two years of the pandemic-induced contraction,” states the ministry document.
The Compendium further reveals that air travel continues to be the predominant mode of international travel for Indian residents, with 98 percent of Indian nationals departing by air in 2024. In comparison, 1.46 percent travelled via land routes, and 0.54 percent used waterways.
“In 2024, the outbound travel of Indian nationals was primarily driven by leisure and recreational purposes (42.52 percent), followed closely by visits related to the Indian diaspora (34.69 percent). Business and professional travel accounted for 14.92 percent of total departures, while pilgrimage (3.99 percent), education (2.45 percent), and other purposes (1.43 percent) comprised the remaining share,” it says.