ANKARA

Türkiye welcomed 5.5 million foreign visitors in October, marking a 9.3% increase compared to the same month last year, according to official data released on Friday.

The renowned resort city of Antalya on the Turkish Riviera saw the largest number of foreign visitors, nearly 2 million, according to figures from the Culture and Tourism Ministry.

Istanbul, Türkiye's largest city by population, came in the second with 1.7 million visitors last month.

The Aegean province of Mugla followed with 408,013 foreign tourists in October.

Germans made up the largest group of foreign visitors to Türkiye, with 925,928, rising 7.6% year-on-year.

It was followed by Russians at 776,618 (up 15.5% annually), Britons at 530,568 (up 20.2%), Iranians at 281,169 (up 27.6%), and Bulgarians at 277,169 (up 4.2%).

From January to October, the number of foreigners visiting Türkiye increased 7% at an annualized pace to 47.3 million.