5,493,492 foreign citizens visited Georgia in 2014, showing a 1.88% increase over the previous year, according to statistics compiled by the Interior Ministry based on border crossing data, Civil.ge reports.

In the data provided, travelers entering into Georgia and staying in the country for more than 24 hours are classified as ‘tourists’.

Of 5.49 million visits registered in 2014, 2,218,050 were identified as ‘tourists’, a 7.39% increase against 2013.

Citizens from Georgia’s neighboring states made up the largest share in total visits in 2014.

Turkish citizens led the pack again in 2014 with 1.43 million entries into Georgia, down by 10.1% compared to 2013, followed by Armenian citizens with 1.32 million entries (2.3% y/y increase); Azerbaijani citizens – 1.28 million (19.2% y/y increase); Russian citizens – 810,233 (5.58% y/y increase); Ukrainian citizens – 143,157 (12.9% y/y increase). Number of visits by Iranian citizens more than halved to 41,747 in 2014.

Number of visits to Georgia by citizens from the EU-member states increased 11% y/y, reaching 230,323 in 2014.