Over 29 million international travellers were recorded by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in 2024.
Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said the BI recorded a total of 14,540,533 arrivals -- 7,922,052 Filipinos and 6,618,481 foreigners.
There were 15,050,136 departures which included 8,348,283 Filipinos and 6,701,853 foreigners, Viado said.
“These figures reflect a thriving travel industry and highlight the Philippines’ growing reputation as a global hub for tourism and business,” he said in a statement issued on Tuesday, Dec. 31.
“As we enter 2025, we will focus on modernization through advancements in technology and legal reforms to simplify immigration processes and improve overall efficiency,” he assured.
In 2024, Viado said the BI had also been vigilant against human trafficking which contributed in keeping the Philippines maintain its Tier 1 status in the 2024 United States Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report.
The BI’s Immigration Protection and Border Enforcement Section (I-PROBES) disclosed that in 2024 a total of 998 trafficking victims were referred to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT) as well as 215 Filipinos referred to the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) for illegal recruitment.
