New Delhi, Dec 23 (IANS): International tourist arrival in India grew by 13 percent during the first nine months of 2013, United Nation World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) data showed.

India is among the top 25 largest international tourism earners.

Other prominent countries that saw double-digit growth in international tourist arrivals include the United States (11 percent), Macao (China) (10 percent), Britain (18 percent), Thailand (28 percent), Hong Kong (21 percent), Turkey (13 percent), Japan (23 percent), Greece (15 percent) and Taiwan (12 percent).

In the first nine months of 2013, international tourism grew by 5 percent according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer.

The number of international tourist arrivals reported by destinations around the world increased by some 41 million between January and September, growing above UNWTO’s initial forecast and creating an important stimulus to the receiving economies.

International tourist arrivals grew by 5 percent in the first nine months of the year, to reach a record 845 million worldwide, an estimated 41 million more than in the same period of 2012.

Growth was driven by Europe and Asia and the Pacific, both seeing tourist numbers increase by 6 percent.

“International tourism continues to grow above expectations, supporting economic growth in both advanced and emerging economies and bringing much needed support to job creation, GDP and the balance of payments of many destinations,” UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai said in a statement.

“It is particularly encouraging to see the strong results in many European destinations, where the tourism sector is, undoubtedly, one of the engines of the economic recovery,” Rifai said.

Among the top ten source markets, Russia led growth, with expenditure on trips abroad up by 29 percent in the first nine months of the year.

China, which became the number one source market in the world last year ($102 billion), also continued to see rapid growth, posting a 22 percent increase in expenditure on outbound tourism in the first nine months of 2013.