SULAIMANI (ESTA) — More than 4.9 million foreigners visited Iraq in 2021, according to authorities, constituting a 145% increase in visitors from 2020.
In a statement, the Iraqi civil aviation authority said 4,908,797 foreigners had visited the country during 2021, with Baghdad international airport receiving the highest number of visitors with 2,069,723.
Erbil international airport received 1,324,754 visitors during the year, it added.
Smaller numbers of people entered the country through the airports in Sulaimani, Najaf and Basra, the statement read.
The Iraqi civil aviation authority said this constituted a 145% increase in visitors from the previous year. It means around 2 million foreigners visited Iraq in 2020.
The increase in number of visitors comes as Iraq grants visas on arrival to citizens of dozens of countries. It includes permanent member states of the U.N. Security Council and European Union, as well as, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland.
