ISTANBUL (AA) – The number of tourists visiting Istanbul in October increased by 37% compared to the same month of last year, hitting 1.58 million.

According to figures released by the Istanbul Culture and Tourism Directorate, a total of 13.37 million tourists visited the city in the first 10 months of this year.

The figure was 1.15 million in October of last year, 431,921 less than October 2022.

Over the month, 1.54 million people came to the city by air and 46,240 by sea.

Some 445,996 people arrived through Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport and 1.09 million people through Istanbul Airport in October.

Russians topped the list of tourists visiting Istanbul with 185,339 people in October.

Germany followed Russia with 116,219 tourists, Iran with 94,579, the US with 72,428, and the UK with 62,510.

Russians made up 11.7% of the people who visited Istanbul in October, Germans 7.33%, Iranians 5.97%, the US 4.57%, and the UK 3.94%.

In October, Istanbul hosted tourists from 194 countries. Only one person each from Tonga and Solomon Islands, and two people from Nauru and Macau came to the city.

Some 1.23 million tourists came to Istanbul in October 2018, 1.35 million tourists in October 2019, and 533,405 tourists in October 2020.

*Writing by Gokhan Ergocun