Nearly 340,000 Pilgrims arrive to Santiago ….

The latest Camino statistics from the Pilgrims Office in Santiago are out, giving us interesting insights into the Camino de Santiago so far this year. An impressive 336,591 people received their Compostela certificates between January and October 2019, a 6.1% increase compared to the same period in 2018.

These statistics refer to the number of Compostelas issued for pilgrims who finished in Santiago, they do not account for pilgrims who have not finished in Santiago.

A further 24,979 pilgrims walked from Santiago de Compostela to the ‘end of the world’, beautiful Finisterre.

The majority of people chose to walk the Camino (94%) while the remaining 6% cycled it.

Most Popular Camino Routes – Jan – Oct 2019 

There are many different Camino routes throughout Spain and in Portugal. Let’s take a closer look at the most popular routes….

  1. The French Way remains the most popular Camino route with 183,404 pilgrims.
  2. The Portuguese Way stays as the second favourite, with 70,379 pilgrims choosing this route.
  3. The Finisterre Way remains the third most walked Camino with 24,979 pilgrims.
  4. The Portuguese Coastal Way rose from 7th to the 4th most popular route, with 21,768 pilgrims representing a massive 57% increase compared to 2018.
  5. The Northern Way is fifth, down from 4th last year, with 18,481 pilgrims making it all the way to Santiago.
  6. The English Way remains at 6th with 15,327 Compostelas issued for pilgrims following in the footsteps of English, Irish and Scandinavian pilgrims.

Pilgrim Nationality – Jan – Oct 2019

So, where is everyone coming from?

Pilgrims travel from all over the world to walk these famous trails. The top 10 represented nationalities on the Camino, excluding the Finisterre Way section, are:

  1. Spain – 142,403 (42.3%)
  2. Italy – 28,046 (8.3%)
  3. Germany – 25,548 (7.6%)
  4. USA – 20,071 (6%)
  5. Portugal – 16,805 (5%)
  6. UK – 8,941 (2.7%)
  7. France – 8,816 (2.6%)
  8. Korea – 7,106 (2.1%)
  9. Ireland – 6,734 (2%)
  10. Brazil – 5,729 (1.7%)

Source: Pilgrim Office, Santiago de Compostela and Oficina turismo Fisterra.

For more information about the Camino de Santiago routes or to book your Camino trip, contact our travel specialists on +353 1 442 8921 or email us on info@magichillholidays.com.