How many people walk the Camino de Santiago? 530,722 in 2025, and counting

By August Frederik Kramer, who has walked the Camino twice · Last updated 21 September 2026

The honest answer is: more than anyone counts. The Pilgrim’s Office in Santiago records everyone who arrives and asks for the Compostela, and in 2025 that was 530,722 people, the most in its history. By 20 September this year it had counted 454,669, 7% ahead of last year, and on that one day 3,125 pilgrims walked into the office. Everyone who finished and did not queue for the certificate is on top of that. So read every figure on this page as a floor.

Americans are now the largest foreign group by a distance: 43,938 in 2025, 8.3% of everyone, and 2.4 times the 18,582 of 2018. Britain sent 14,637 and Ireland 10,790. Between them the English-speaking world sends more pilgrims than any country but Spain, and the office counted 171 countries in all, which means there are places on earth that sent two or three people all year.

Twenty years of counting

The line only goes one way. In 2015 the office counted 262,447; in 2025 it counted 530,722, 102% more, which is a doubling in ten years. Since 93,929 in 2005 the count has grown 5.7 times over. Two things bend the line. A Holy Year, when the cathedral opens its Holy Door: 2010 jumped to 272,417 from 147,467 the year before, up 85%, and fell 33% the year after. And 2020, when the count collapsed to 54,144, 84% below 2019; the Holy Year of 2021 managed 178,912. The next Holy Year is 2027, and our guide to Xacobeo 2027 is about what to expect.

The share from Spain tells its own story. In the 2004 Holy Year 76% of pilgrims were Spanish. In 2025 it was 43%: 228,111 Spaniards and 302,611 from abroad. The Camino did not stop being Spanish; the rest of the world simply turned up.

Which route they walk

The Camino Francés is still the Camino for most people: 241,998 pilgrims in 2025, 45.6% of the total. But its share was 56.9% in 2018, and what has eaten into it is Portugal. The two Portuguese routes together carried 190,307, 35.9% of everyone, and the coastal one is the fastest-growing route the office records: 89,503 in 2025 against 13,841 in 2018, 6.5 times as many, and now 89% of the size of the inland route it split from. Our guide to the Portugués from Porto and Tui measures the one we hold.

Below the big three it thins fast: the Inglés at 5.7%, the Primitivo at 5.3%, the Norte at 4.0%, and the Vía de la Plata, the longest route of all, with 7,654 so far this year. If you are choosing, the crowd is one input and our comparison of all ten routes has the other three.

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Where they start

One town in Galicia beats every other starting point on every route, and it is not a surprise to anyone who has walked the last week of the Francés. 161,922 pilgrims started at Sarria in 2025, 30.5% of everyone who reached Santiago, and 5.3 times the 30,337 who set out from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Sarria’s share was 27.0% in 2018 and has only grown. The three Porto starts together made 72,343, Tui 41,643, Ferrol 28,883. Why Sarria: it is the last stage-end before the 100 km the Compostela requires, and our guide to the last 100 km has where that line falls on every route.

When they walk

September is now the busiest month. 81,534 pilgrims arrived in September 2025, 15.4% of the year, ahead of May (78,650) and August (77,095). That is new: in 2018 August was the peak with 60,415 and September trailed at 47,006. Seven months, April to October, carry 93% of the year; November to March carry the other 7%, and January, February and December together are 9,751 people, about 4 ordinary days of June.

This year is running ahead of that. August 2026 counted 84,793 arrivals, the busiest single month in every series the office publishes, and the year stood at 454,669 on 20 September. Which month suits you is a different question from which month suits the crowd; our guide to the best time of year takes the heat, the rain and the daylight month by month.

Who they are

The office’s last fully detailed year is 2018, and it is a more even crowd than the photographs suggest. 50.4% were women. 93.5% walked and 6.3% cycled; the rest came on horseback, in a wheelchair, or by sail. 27% were under 30, 55% between 30 and 60, and 18% over 60. Asked why, in 2025, 43.9% said religion, 31.9% religion and something else, and 18.4% something else entirely.

Where they come from

Spain first, always, with 228,111 in 2025. Then the table below: the ten largest foreign groups, out of 171 countries the office recorded. The striking line is the top one. The United States sent 18,582 pilgrims in 2018 and 43,938 in 2025, and passed Italy and Germany on the way, which had held second and third place for as long as the office has published a list.

What this count is, and is not

Every figure here is the Pilgrim’s Office’s own: its public dashboard, read on 21 September 2026, for 2025 and this year, and its older statistics tool for the complete years 2004 to 2018, which is also where the age, sex and means breakdown of 2018 comes from. For 2020 and 2021 we print the annual totals the office published at the time, because its current dashboard shows lower figures for those two years and we do not know why. The office counts Compostelas issued, so anyone who did not ask for one is missing, and it does not count anyone who walked and stopped short of Santiago. We will read it again when the year closes.

Common questions

How many people walk the Camino de Santiago each year?

530,722 pilgrims collected the Compostela in Santiago in 2025, the highest number the Pilgrim’s Office has ever recorded, and 454,669 had already done so by 20 September this year. The true number of walkers is higher, because not everyone asks for the certificate.

Which Camino route is the most popular?

The Camino Francés, with 241,998 pilgrims in 2025, 45.6% of the total. The two Portuguese routes together are second with 190,307, and the coastal Portugués is the fastest-growing route of all.

Where do most people start the Camino?

Sarria, by a long way: 161,922 pilgrims in 2025, 30.5% of everyone who arrived, and 5.3 times as many as started at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (30,337).

What is the busiest month on the Camino?

September, with 81,534 arrivals in 2025, followed by May and August. In 2018 August was the peak. April to October carry 93% of the year.

How many Americans walk the Camino?

43,938 in 2025, the largest foreign group and 2.4 times the 18,582 of 2018. The United Kingdom sent 14,637 and Ireland 10,790.

How many countries do Camino pilgrims come from?

171 in 2025, according to the Pilgrim’s Office. Spain accounts for 43% of pilgrims; the rest of the world for the other 57%.

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