More than 3.2m foreigners visited India in the lockdown year 2020

In the year COVID-19 India recorded more than 3.2 million foreign visitors, including over 61,000 Americans, among the foreigners 4,751 Pakistanis also included.

The maximum number of foreigners who visited India during this period were from the US (61,190) followed by those from Bangladesh (37,774), the UK (33,323), Canada (13,707), Portugal (11,668), and Afghanistan (11,212). A total of 8,438 German nationals, 8,353 French citizens, 7,163 from Iraq, and 6,129 from the Republic of Korea also visited India during this period. These 10 countries accounted for 71.23 percent of the total arrival of foreigners during the period April 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020, the report said. The coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown was first announced in India from March 25 to April 21 in 2020 and it was extended thrice till May 31, 2020.

Even though the government had announced the gradual reopening of various activities from June 2020, many restrictions continued for the remaining months of 2020. Scheduled international flights from India to international destinations remained suspended for two years from March 25, 2020, to March 27, 2022.