The 15 Least Visited Countries in the Entire World

While some countries are on nearly everyone’s bucket list, others seldom receive visitors. Certain countries aren’t popular tourist destinations due to concerns about safety, however, others are simply difficult to travel to and have few accommodations available. Let’s explore 15 of the least visited countries in the world and discuss how many tourists they receive annually.

Much of the information and statistics cited in this article regarding annual tourism numbers have been obtained from the World Bank and the World Population Review. It is important to note that tourism levels from 2019 to 2020 will be markedly different due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Sierra Leone

While this country is undeniably beautiful, it receives very little tourism annually. Sierra Leone had roughly 71,000 foreigners visit in 2019, however, they had as few as 31,000 people visit in 2015.

2. North Korea

While this country received an annual amount of roughly 100,000 to 150,000 tourists annually prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, only a small fraction of those are comprised of Westerners.

3. Papua New Guinea 

Only 39,000 people visited Papua New Guinea in 2020, making this one of the least visited countries in the world. This is down from 211,000 visitors in 2019.

4. Samoa

The country of Samoa only received 181,000 tourists throughout 2019.

5. Tonga

Tonga received 94,000 tourists in 2019, which was a significant increase from 2018 when this country only welcomed roughly 77,300 tourists.

6. Kiribati

Located in Micronesia, the Sovereign Republic of Kiribati only received 12,000 visitors in 2019. This is one of the least visited regions in the world, which is likely due to how isolated it is.

7. Bhutan

Unlike other regions we’ve discussed today, Bhutan purposefully limits the amount of tourism it receives. Bhutan welcomed about 300,000 tourists in 2019, plummeting to roughly 30,000 individuals in 2020.

8. Liechtenstein

Liechtenstein only welcomed about 98,000 visitors total in the year 2019. However, this was up from previous years, as this country only received roughly 57,000 tourists in 2015.

9. Marshall Islands

The Marshall Islands receive shockingly little tourism. This country only welcomed roughly 6,000 foreign tourists in 2019.

10. Tuvalu

This region only received about 3,600 foreign visitors in 2019. Surprisingly, this is still a significant increase from years prior as Tuvalu country only welcomed about 1,000 tourists total in 2012.

11. Solomon Islands

Located in Melanesia, the Solomon Islands only had about 29,000 foreigners visit there during 2019.

12. Burkina Faso

About 143,000 individuals visited Burkina Faso in 2019. The Central Intelligence Agency has stated that “The US Department of State currently recommends US citizens DO NOT TRAVEL to Burkina Faso due to terrorism, crime, and kidnapping.”

13. Palau

The country of Palau welcomed roughly 94,000 tourists in 2019, which was significantly down from previous years.

14. Comoros

In 2019, the World Bank reported that Comoros had roughly 45,000 people visit. Low tourism in Comoros is likely partly due to poverty and political unrest.

15. Vanuatu

About 256,000 individuals visited Vanuatu in 2019, which was down from the previous years. From 2012 to 2019, this country saw over 300,000 tourists each year.