TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan welcomed a record 3.31 million visitors last month, official data showed on Wednesday, as the weak yen propelled a tourism boom that is pouring money into the nation's coffers.
The number of foreign visitors for business and leisure rose from 2.87 million in September and exceeded the previous monthly record of 3.29 million set in July, data from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) showed.
Through October, about 30.2 million tourists have arrived in Japan, just shy of the annual record of 31.9 million set in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut global borders.
Japan's famous autumn leaf colours contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe, and North America, the JNTO said. Through October, 11 countries and regions have surpassed annual records for sending visitors to Japan.
Travellers spent 5.86 trillion yen ($37.72 billion) in Japan through September of this year, preliminary figures showed last month. That eclipsed the 5.3 trillion yen they spent in all of 2023, a record for any 12-month period.
Tourism spending, classified as an export in national accounts, is poised to become Japan's second-biggest export sector after autos and ahead of electronic components.
(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Kim Coghill and Michael Perry)