The Pilgrim’s Welcome Office in Santiago de Compostela keeps detailed statistics about the Camino de Santiago (500 mile trek through Spain) which I break down and report on each year. Outdoor adventure travel, specifically long distance treks, are continuing to grow. They have just released the most recent annual statistics for 2017 and it looks like the Camino de Santiago is continuing the upward trend in popularity.
This post brought to you by Sunrises to Santiago: Searching for Purpose on the Camino de Santiago–one of GoodReads highest rated and reviewed Camino books of 2017.
2017 Camino de Santiago Highlights:
- 301,036 people walked the Camino de Santiago in 2017 (compare to 237,886 in 2014 – 262,459 in 2015 – 277,913 in 2016)
- Of those hikers, 147,867 were women and 153,169 were men
- 278,490 completed the Camino de Santiago on foot (92.51%)
- 21,933 completed the Camino de Santiago by bike (7.29%)
- 43 completed it by wheelchair and the rest on horseback
AGE
- 84,064 pilgrims were under the age of 30 (27.92%)
- 164,625 were between the ages of 30 and 60 (54.69%)
- 52,347 adventurers were over the age of 60 (17.39%)
WHY
- 130,831 people walked for religious purposes (43.46%)
- 142,662 walked for spiritual or cultural reasons (47.39%)
- 27,543 walked only for the adventure of it (9.15%)
WHERE PILGRIMS COME FROM
- The largest single nation represented was no surprise, Spain, with 132,478 (44.01%) walking the trail.
- Italy was 2nd, Germany 3rd and the United States was 4th with 17,522 (10.4%) people represented.
STARTING POINT
- The majority of pilgrims started in Sarria (26.48%) and the next most popular starting point for the Camino de Santiago in 2017 was where I also began my journey, St. Jean Pied-de-Port in France. 33,177 souls started in St. Jean.
- The Camino Frances remains the most popular route with 180,737 (60.04%) of pilgrims choosing this historic route.
Check out the most popular long distance trails in the world HERE.
Past Statistics Reports – Camino de Santiago
GABRIEL SCHIRM 
how absolutely extraordinary. that is quite a lot of people. I walked the Portugues Coastal Route in September (62 years of age – ergo an adventurer 😉 ) and although I saw quite a lot of people, it was never crowded and I often walked for 2-3 hours without seeing anyone except the occasional local. Definitely not yet crowded. Thanks for the stats….I love finding out this kind of information
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Thanks for the comment Cindy!:) I want to walk the Portuguese Coastal Route myself! It’s nice to get a way from the crowds.
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Buen Camino!
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