TOKYO, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Spending by foreign tourists in Japan reached a record high of 4.42 trillion yen (39.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 2017, up by 17.8 percent from a year earlier, said the Japan Tourism Agency on Tuesday.

Among them, travelers from the Chinese mainland spent a total of 1.69 trillion yen in Japan, up by 14.9 percent from a year earlier and the most among all regions, according to the agency.

They were followed by travelers from China's Taiwan, who spent a total of 574.4 billion yen and up by 9.5 percent from a year earlier, and travelers from South Korea, who spent a total of 512.6 billion yen and up by 43.3 percent.

The agency attributed the growth mainly to the continuous increase in the number of foreign tourists to Japan, which stood at 28.69 million in 2017, also a record high and up 19.3 percent from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, average spending per visitor dropped to 153,921 yen, down by 1.3 percent compared to the previous year, according to the agency.

Spending per visitor from the Chinese mainland fell 0.5 percent to 230,382 yen, but still higher than the average 200,000 yen spent by visitors from the United States and European nations.

Categorically, money spent by foreign tourists on shopping accounted for 37.1 percent of the total amount spend, followed by lodging expenses, accounting for 28.2 percent of the total, and food and drinks, accounting for 20.1 percent of the total amount. (1 U.S. dollar equals to 111 Japanese yen)