RIO DE JANEIRO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Brazil drew a record number of foreign visitors in 2017, attracting 6,558,770 tourists or 0.6 percent more than the year before, the Tourism Ministry said on Monday.

Last year's figure topped 2016, when Brazil hosted the Olympic games and 6,546,696 foreign visitors entered the country, and 2014, when it hosted the FIFA World Cup of football and 6,429,852 tourists visited the South American country.

Tourism to Brazil in 2017 was spearheaded mainly by its neighbors. As many as 4.1 million South Americans visited the country, or 11.1 percent more than the year before, when the number stood at 3.7 million.

In all, South Americans accounted for 62.4 percent of Brazil's foreign visitors, according to Brazilian Tourism Ministry.

Argentina was Brazil's main tourism market, with 2,622,327 visitors or 40 percent of the total, representing a 14.3 percent increase over 2016.

In second place was the United States, with 475,200 visitors or 7 percent more than in 2016, followed by Chile, with 342,100 visitors or 5.2 percent more than 2016.

China ranked 17th in number of tourists to Brazil, with 61,250 visitors for a 0.93 percent increase over 2016.

Sao Paulo, Brazil and the Western Hemisphere's most populous city, and Rio de Janeiro, the country's leading tourism destination, received the most number of visitors, taking up 32.5 percent and 20.5 percent, respectively.

Most foreign tourists arrived by plane (63.5 percent). Another 2.25 million entered by highway, mainly via southern Rio Grande do Sul state, which borders Uruguay and Argentina, and 52,500 tourists were cruise passengers.