India’s ambition to position itself as a global hub for affordable and high-quality healthcare is encountering fresh challenges, as medical tourism to the country declines amid geopolitical tensions, visa hurdles and rising competition from other Asian destinations. Recent government data indicate that the number of foreign patients travelling to India for medical treatment has been on a downward trend for the past three years and remains well below pre-pandemic levels. According to provisional figures from the Bureau of Immigration, medical tourist arrivals stood at 450,633 between January and November 2025.
Although December data is yet to be released, the total for 2025 is expected to fall significantly short of 2024’s 644,387 arrivals. This marks a notable drop from 2019, when India recorded a peak of 697,453 medical tourists. The slowdown is not limited to medical travel alone.…
