Over the last month you will have heard often about the Camino de Santiago. Not only because it is more and more popular every year – and this is demonstrated by the ever-growing numbers, with 530,987 pilgrims registered in 2025. But also thanks to Checco Zalone’s latest film, directed by Gennaro Nunziante, Good Caminowhich grossed more than 65 million euros within three weeks of its release, with over 8 million spectators, becoming the most watched Italian film ever – a record that had not been broken for 10 years, after Quo vago?, again the result of the Zalone-Nunziante duo.
In the movie, Checco Zalone he plays a man as rich as he is arrogant and superficial who finds himself walking the Camino de Santiago to convince his daughter to interrupt it and bring her home. Stage after stage, dealing with the fatigue and the people he meets on the journey, he abandons part of his superstructures, learning to know himself a little better and building a relationship with his daughter. Here you are the boom in searches: according to Google Trends data, since the release of the film, searches by Italians on the Camino have increased: on the launch day, December 25th, +200% compared to the annual average, up to the peak on December 28th with +600%. Numbers like these lead us to predict that there will also be an increase in the flow of Italian pilgrims on the path, reinforcing a trend that has been growing for 40 years now.
Data and statistics of the Camino de Santiago
All data is provided byOffice of the Pilgrim of Santiago de Compostelawhich issues the Compostela (i.e. the certificate of completion of the journey, which in the case of that of Santiago is issued for those who have traveled at least 100 km) and records the arrivals of pilgrims from the various routes – this means that the numbers of pilgrims could be even greater, because not everyone manages to get to Santiago and not everyone asks
THE data available since 1985the year in which less than a thousand pilgrims were registered, and they arrive at 2025in which they were recorded 530,987with an increase in presences of +6.4% (+31,746) compared to 2024. Of these, almost half (228,527) are Spanish nationals and over 297,000 foreigners – including over 26 thousand Italians -, 53.67% are women and 46.33% are men.
In this graph you can clearly see the continuous growth trend of pilgrims on the Camino. You can see how over the years Jacobeansi.e. “special” years for pilgrimage that occur when July 25 (the feast of St. James) falls on a Sunday, following a sequence of 6, 5, 6 and 11 years, and in which plenary indulgence is offered to pilgrims who reach the cathedral, these increase. This explains the positive spike visible in years such as 2004, 2010 and 2021-22 (the next ones will be 2027 and 2032), while in 2020, the year of Covid and restrictions that prevented travel, a decline can be seen, which however was immediately filled starting from 2021.
Who are the pilgrims who undertake the Camino de Santiago
The ranking of the countries represented by pilgrims on the journey in 2025 looks like this: Spain is in first place (43% of the total), with 228,527 pilgrims. In second place is the United States, with 43,980 (and a growth of 10.36% over 2024). In third place is Italy, with 26,680 pilgrims (-11.89% compared to last year, but we can expect an increase in 2026 given the Zalone effect!). Followed by Germany (24,356), Portugal (22,821), United Kingdom (14,650), Mexico (12,090, with a notable +21.39%), Australia (9,410, with +18.50%), Brazil (8,411, with +14.20%).
The age distribution sees a majority of pilgrims in range between 18 and 45 (40.4%) and in that between 46 and 65 (39.4%), with 11.5% of over 65s and 8.6% of under 18s (accompanied!).
What moved the pilgrims? 46.6% declared that they walked the Camino for religious reasons; 33.8% for religious and other reasons; 19.6% for non-religious reasons.
What are the most popular itineraries, how and when
The most popular itinerary is that of the French Way, so called because it begins in France, in Saint-Jean Pied-de-Port, and ends in Santiago after crossing Spain for 780 km, passing through Navarra, La Rioja, Castile and León and Galicia, with 242,175 presences in 2025 (45.6% of the total). Following are the Portuguese route (620 km) and the Portuguese coastal route (266 km), with 100,835 and 89,509 pilgrims respectively. Then there are the English one (122 km, 30,204), the Primitive one (320 km, 27,871), the Northern one (830 km, 21,521), the Via della Plata (970 km, 8836), the Winter path (217 km, 2758), the Muxia and Finisterre path (107 km, 2381) and the Del Barbanza (120 km, 755).
The Camino de Santiago have been travelled standing by the majority of people (469,542, for 93.8%), by bicycle from 20,144, down from the previous year, but also to horse and in sail. The busiest months, however, were September (76,987 pilgrims), May (74,556), August (73.123), June (69,530)
