Nepal received 132,814 international visitors in October 2026, a 3.4 percent increase over the 128,443 arrivals recorded in the same month last year, according to figures published by the Nepal Tourism Board. The monthly tally was notable not only for its steady year-on-year growth but also for its composition, with the United States emerging as the largest source market for the month. The board's figures point to a historic demographic shift in Nepal's inbound tourism, driven by strong growth in long-haul markets and led by American travelers.
October arrivals at a glance
The Nepal Tourism Board's monthly statistics offer a detailed picture of where Nepal's international visitors came from during October and how the overall total moved compared with the previous year.
- Total arrivals: 132,814 international visitors in October 2026
- Same month last year: 128,443 arrivals in October 2025
- Year-on-year growth: 4,371 additional visitors, an increase of 3.4 percent
- Largest source market: United States, with 17,437 visitors
- Second largest: India, with 12,097 arrivals
- Third largest: China, with 11,695 visitors
- Fourth largest: United Kingdom, with 9,385 arrivals
Top four markets in focus
Taken together, the four leading markets accounted for 50,614 visitors, meaning roughly 38 percent of all international arrivals in October came from just four countries. The United States alone contributed about 13 percent of the monthly total, a share that underlines how consequential the long-haul segment has become in Nepal's overall visitor count.
Long-haul momentum reshapes the visitor mix
The most striking feature of the October data is the position of the United States at the top of the source-market table. With 17,437 arrivals, the US outpaced every other country in the ranking and finished 5,340 visitors ahead of second-placed India. A gap of more than five thousand visitors between the top two markets is a wide one for a monthly tally, and it underlines the scale of American demand in October.
According to the Nepal Tourism Board, the figures mark a historic demographic shift in Nepal's inbound tourism, characterized by strong growth in long-haul markets and led by the United States. The United Kingdom's performance reinforces that trend, as its 9,385 arrivals made it the fourth-largest source of visitors for the month and placed a second distant market among the top four.
The board's own framing of the numbers, describing them as a historic demographic shift, indicates that the rise of long-haul demand is being treated as a structural development in Nepal's visitor base rather than a one-month anomaly. The October release, with two of the four largest markets located far from South Asia, captures that change in detail.
India and China remain core markets
While the United States led the table, Nepal's neighbors continued to supply large volumes of visitors. India ranked second with 12,097 arrivals in October, followed closely by China with 11,695, a margin of just 402 visitors between the two markets. Their combined contribution for the month stood at 23,792 arrivals, keeping them well clear of the remaining countries in the ranking.
The presence of India and China alongside the United States and the United Kingdom in the top four gives the October list a balance of neighboring and long-haul markets. For the Nepal Tourism Board, whose figures track international arrivals by nationality, the month's data confirms that neighboring countries remain central suppliers of visitors even as the composition of the top of the table changed.
A steady 3.4 percent climb
Beyond the changes in market composition, the headline number tells a story of measured growth. October's total of 132,814 arrivals represents 4,371 more international visitors than the 128,443 recorded in October 2025, a year-on-year increase of 3.4 percent. Applied across a base of more than 128,000 monthly arrivals, that rate of growth translated into a gain of more than four thousand visitors in a single month.
The Nepal Tourism Board compiles and publishes the country's international arrival statistics, and its October release places the United States, India, China and the United Kingdom at the top of the monthly source-market ranking. The 3.4 percent rise means Nepal welcomed more international visitors this October than in the same month a year earlier, with that growth recorded alongside a notably altered market mix.
With the figures now published, the October data stands as the clearest official snapshot of the changing pattern of demand for Nepal as a destination. The board's characterization of a historic demographic shift, backed by the prominence of the United States and the strength of other long-haul markets, shows that the composition of Nepal's international visitor base is changing, and that the shift is now clearly visible in the country's monthly arrival figures.
