Over 4.5L foreign tourists visited India between Jan-Nov 2025 for medical purposes: Centre
Medical Tourism_ Representative Image
As per the BOI, figures of last five years of FTAs for medical purposes are as follows: over 6.9L in 2019; over 1.8L in 2020; over 3.2L in 2021; over 4.7L in 2022; over 6.5L in 2023; and over 6.4L in 2024.
The Ministry of Tourism promotes India in a holistic manner, through various initiatives. As part of on-going activities, promotion of medical & wellness tourism, is also taken up. Recent MoT update shows that around 4,50,633 foreign tourist arrivals were recorded in 2025 from January to November, who visited the country for medical purposes.
Giving a reply during the recent Lok Sabha session, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat shared that the total year-wise Foreign Tourist Arrivals for medical purpose during last 5 years are 6,97,453 in 2019 (1,09,30,355 total FTAs), 1,82,945 in 2020 (out of total FTAs of 27,44,766 in India), 3,23,748 in 2021 (15,27,114 total FTAs), 4,74,798 in 2022 (64,37,467 total FTAs), 6,59,356 in 2023 (95,20,928 total), 6,44,387 in 2024 (99,51,722 total FTAs), and 4,50,633 in 2025 (total FTAs was 79,34,617 from January to November). These figures are as stated by the Bureau of Immigration (BOI).
As per Shekhawat, the Ministry of Tourism has not conducted any study to assess the current status, key challenges and growth potential of medical tourism in India. The Ministry of Tourism does not maintain data on State wise purpose wise Foreign Tourist Arrivals and revenue earned due to medical tourism.
To further fuel the growth of Medical and Wellness tourism in India and maintain India’s competitive advantage, Ministry of Tourism formulated a National Strategy and Roadmap for Medical and Wellness Tourism and circulated to concerned Central Ministries, State Governments and Industry Stakeholders.
Further facilitating inbound medical travel, the government of India has extended the e-medical visa/ e-medical attendant visa facility. Additionally, the Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) under the Ministry of Commerce has launched a dedicated website to provides information on accredited hospitals and wellness centres, visa, healthcare providers, and more.
