How Many Tourists Visit Chamonix Each Year? The Verified Figures
In short. The Chamonix-Mont-Blanc Valley records roughly 8.5 million tourist overnight stays a year, more than half of them generated by international visitors. In the commune of Chamonix, 69.2 % of homes are second residences. And the median price per square metre of an apartment has risen by around 32 % between 2021 and 2025, while the number of sales fell. Here are those figures, their sources, and what they concretely change for an owner.
Plenty of articles announce that “millions of tourists” come to Chamonix, without ever saying where the number comes from or what it measures. We took the opposite approach: we went back to the official sources, we extracted the public property-sales data ourselves, and we publish here only what we can prove. Every figure carries its geographical area, its year and a link to its source.
First, a distinction almost everyone gets wrong
Two different territories hide behind the word “Chamonix”, and mixing them up distorts everything:
| Territory | What it covers | What is measured there |
|---|---|---|
| Commune of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc | The commune of Chamonix alone | Population, housing, property sales |
| Chamonix-Mont-Blanc Valley | Chamonix, Les Houches, Servoz and Vallorcine | Overnight stays, tourist beds, protected land |
Most official tourism statistics cover the valley, not the commune on its own. A figure for overnight stays presented as “Chamonix” therefore actually describes four communes. We state which is which throughout.
How many tourists visit Chamonix each year?
There is no official count of how many different people visit Chamonix in a year. Nobody counts individuals at the entrance to the valley. What is measured is overnight stays (“nuitées”).
One overnight stay = one person accommodated for one night. A family of four staying a week generates 28 overnight stays, not four tourists. That is why it is wrong to write that “8.5 million tourists come to Chamonix”.
The destination’s official press kit gives 8.5 million tourist overnight stays a year for the Chamonix-Mont-Blanc Valley, of which 50.4 % are international and 49.6 % French. The valley has close to 82,500 tourist beds for about 14,288 permanent residents. Source: official press kit, chamonix.com.
Remember the ratio: close to six tourist beds for every resident. That imbalance is what makes Chamonix an international destination — and a rental market where competition between properties is real.
Seven homes out of ten are second residences
The INSEE census (2023 edition) gives the following for the commune of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc:
| Indicator | Number | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent population | 8,705 | — |
| Total homes | 14,676 | 100 % |
| Primary residences | 4,362 | 29.7 % |
| Second or occasional residences | 10,159 | 69.2 % |
| Vacant homes | 155 | 1.1 % |
| Apartments | 10,660 | 72.6 % |
| Houses | 3,908 | 26.6 % |
That works out at roughly 2.3 second homes for every primary residence. Statistically, Chamonix is therefore a commune of second homes, with a permanent population that is a minority within its own housing stock.
Careful not to over-read this. Those 10,159 second homes are not 10,159 Airbnb rentals. Many are never let at all: used by their owners, lent to family and friends, rented a few weeks a year, or simply not marketed. Since 2026 they cannot be let freely either: the regulation limits each owner to a single furnished tourist rental.
The stock is also overwhelmingly made up of apartments (72.6 %). The detached chalet is the symbol of Chamonix, but the apartment is its statistical reality.
The property market: fewer sales, rising prices
We extracted these figures ourselves from the public DVF file (Demandes de valeurs foncières), published by the French state from notarial deeds. You can download exactly the same file: the CSV for the commune of Chamonix for 2025, or the whole dataset on data.gouv.fr.
| Year | Residential sales | Apartments | Houses | Median apartment price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 387 | 298 | 88 | €7,515/m² |
| 2022 | 481 | 373 | 108 | €8,262/m² |
| 2023 | 348 | 281 | 65 | €9,000/m² |
| 2024 | 336 | 281 | 55 | €9,194/m² |
| 2025 | 321 | 267 | 54 | €9,932/m² |
Two trends are visible at a glance:
1. The number of sales is falling. From 481 transfers in 2022 to 321 in 2025, roughly a third fewer in three years. Over five years the average settles at about 375 residential sales a year.
2. The median price per m² is climbing. From €7,515 in 2021 to €9,932 in 2025 for an apartment, that is +32 % in four years. Fewer properties change hands, and those that sell, sell for more.
About 83 % of sales concern apartments, which is consistent with a housing stock that is 72.6 % apartments.
How we counted. We count only transfers of type “Vente” (sale) covering an apartment or a house, and we count unique transfers, not rows in the file: a single notarised sale can bundle several lots (an apartment, a cellar, a parking space) and appear on several rows. The median price per m² is calculated only on transfers covering a single dwelling, so as not to mix the value of an apartment with that of its outbuildings. The most recent year’s data may still be completed: deeds are registered with a lag.
Land that is 91.4 % protected: why it matters
According to the destination’s official press kit:
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Land under a protection measure | 91.4 % |
| Glaciers | 7, including the Mer de Glace (7 km, 40 km²) |
| Nature reserves | 3 — Aiguilles Rouges, Carlaveyron, Vallon de Bérard (6,186 ha) |
| Classified sites | 2 — the Mont-Blanc massif and balcony (25,825 ha) |
| Natura 2000 zone | 8,987 ha |
| Area of the valley | 245 km² |
This is not just a pleasant environmental statistic. When nine tenths of a territory are protected, building is all but impossible. The existing housing stock therefore cannot grow significantly, while tourist demand remains massive. That is the underlying explanation for the price rise visible in the DVF data.
What these figures change for an owner
| What the data says | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| 8.5M overnight stays, 50.4 % international | Not all your guests speak French, and they book from other time zones. Responsiveness and multilingual communication are not a luxury. |
| 82,500 tourist beds in the valley | Supply is abundant. A badly photographed or badly priced property does not get let “anyway”: it gets overtaken. |
| 69.2 % second residences | Most owners live elsewhere. Without a local presence, a water leak in February becomes an expensive problem. |
| Price per m² up 32 % in four years | Your property is gaining value. Leaving it empty carries a rising opportunity cost. |
| 91.4 % of the land protected | Little new construction: existing properties keep their scarcity. |
| One furnished rental allowed per owner | If you own two properties, only one can be let short-term. That choice needs preparing. |
These figures describe a healthy market. They guarantee no income: how a property performs depends on its location, capacity, condition, view, parking, equipment, availability, reviews and regulatory eligibility.
Frequently asked questions
How many tourists visit Chamonix each year?
There is no official count of the number of different people who visit Chamonix. The Chamonix-Mont-Blanc Valley records roughly 8.5 million tourist overnight stays a year. One overnight stay corresponds to one person accommodated for one night: a family of four staying a week generates 28 of them.
What share of visitors is international?
50.4 % of the valley’s overnight stays are generated by international visitors, against 49.6 % by French visitors. Source: the destination’s official press kit.
How many second homes are there in Chamonix?
The commune counted 10,159 second or occasional residences at the 2023 census, that is 69.2 % of all 14,676 homes. Source: INSEE.
How many properties are sold each year in Chamonix?
The public DVF data shows 321 residential sales in 2025, and an average of about 375 a year between 2021 and 2025. Roughly 83 % concern apartments. These are notarised transfers: one sale can bundle several lots.
What is the price per m² in Chamonix?
The median price of an apartment comes out at €9,932/m² in 2025 according to DVF data, against €7,515/m² in 2021 — about +32 % in four years. This is a median: half of sales are above it and half below.
Do these figures cover the commune or the valley?
Overnight stays, tourist beds and protected land concern the valley (Chamonix, Les Houches, Servoz, Vallorcine). Population, housing and sales concern the commune of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc alone.
Sources and method
Figures verified on 1 September 2026. We have published only numbers traceable to a primary source you can consult.
- Overnight stays, tourist beds, glaciers, protected land: official press kit of the Chamonix-Mont-Blanc Valley
- Population, housing, second residences: INSEE, full dossier for the commune of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc (74056), 2023 edition
- Sales and price per m²: geolocated DVF file, data.gouv.fr — extraction and calculations carried out by Care Concierge
- Regulation: valleedechamonix.declaloc.fr and Chamonix-Mont-Blanc town hall
This content is informational and constitutes neither legal advice, nor tax advice, nor a guarantee of income.
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