Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – Iraq welcomed approximately 10 million international tourists throughout 2025, marking an unprecedented modern benchmark for the country’s travel sector, according to official figures disclosed on Monday, October 5, 2026, by Fadhil Al-Badrani, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Antiquities.
The influx, which encompasses both religious pilgrims and cultural heritage travelers, underscores the country’s growing appeal as regional connectivity expands. Speaking to the Iraqi News Agency (INA), Al-Badrani detailed the institutional mechanisms governing inbound traveler verification.
He explained that entry data is tracked through an integrated federal reporting apparatus linking the National Data Center, the Ministry of Interior, the Border Ports Commission, and international civil airports across Baghdad, Najaf, Basra, and Erbil.
These inter-agency registries are channeled directly to the Tourism Commission and the Ministry of Culture to compile precise statutory records.
Al-Badrani acknowledged that international tourism flows during 2026 experienced an unavoidable slowdown, driven by regional security volatility and logistical strains that dampened cross-border leisure travel across the Middle East.
However, he contrasted current headwinds with the record-setting performance of 2025, where sustained domestic stability and streamlined entry visas facilitated massive arrivals.
The 10-million visitor total was primarily anchored by Iraq’s religious tourism corridors—chiefly major annual pilgrimages to holy shrines in Karbala, Najaf, Kadhimiya, and Samarra—supplemented by an expanding cohort of international visitors touring Mesopotamian archaeological landmarks, including Babylon, Ur, Hatra, and the UNESCO-listed Iraqi Marshlands.
Al-Badrani emphasized that surpassing 10 million arrivals represents a milestone compared to previous decades, demonstrating the tourism industry’s capacity to serve as a vital pillar for economic diversification and sovereign non-oil revenue generation.
