The number of foreign tourists to South Korea has reached a record high of over 17 million this year.

According to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on Tuesday the figure significantly outdoes the previous record, which was 14-point-two million reached in 2014.

The number is equivalent to one-thousand-941 foreign tourists newly entering South Korea every hour or 32 people entering every minute.

The number of foreign visitors fell by six-point-eight percent last year from 2014 due to the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS). However, between January and November this year, the number sharply rose by 31-point-two percent from 2015.

According to the UN World Tourism Organization, South Korea saw a whopping 36 percent growth in the number of foreign tourists between January and September. It is a significantly high mark of growth compared to the Asia-Pacific average of nine percent and the global average of four percent during the same period.