News1 min readLizbeth Sanchez
El Salvador reports a record tourism year
Visitor arrivals passed 3.9 million in 2025 according to Ministry of Tourism figures, with the coast and the volcano circuit taking most of the growth.
The Ministry of Tourism reports 3.9 million international arrivals for 2025, up 6% on 2024 and more than 50% above the pre-pandemic peak.
Three things are worth separating out of that number.
A large share is diaspora travel. Salvadorans resident abroad visiting family are counted as international visitors. They cluster in December and Semana Santa and they behave nothing like leisure tourists. The population and diaspora figures put that group at around 2.5 million people.
Growth is concentrated. The Surf City coast and the Santa Ana volcano circuit absorbed most of it. The Ruta de las Flores grew fastest in percentage terms from a much smaller base.
Spend per visitor is flat. Receipts rose roughly in line with arrivals, which is consistent with growth coming from budget and diaspora travel rather than from the high-spend segment the government has been targeting.
The series is tracked monthly on the tourism statistics page.
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