FOREIGN arrivals to Turkey rose more than 46 percent year-on-year in July, the Tourism Ministry revealed today (Aug 25).

The data showed that more than five million foreign visitors entered the country over the course of the month.

Antalya and scenic Istanbul saw the highest number of visitors, nearly 1.8 million and over 1.3 million, respectively.

In July, a total of 835,525 Russians visited Turkey with a 1.648 percent increase compared to the same month of 2016.

In the first seven months of the year, the number of foreigners visiting Turkey totalled over 17.3 million, up almost 22 percent compared to the same period last year, the ministry said. In this period, more than 2.5 million Russians visited Turkey with a 99.1 percent year-on-year increase.

Russians made up almost 15 percent of foreign visitors, followed by Germans at around 11 percent, and Georgian citizens at nearly 8 percent in the first seven months of the year.

In the first seven months of the year, a total of 7.1 million tourists visited Turkey from Europe, with a 7.1 percent year-on-year increase.