Official statistics have supposedly shown that record numbers of international tourists visited Brazil in 2016 ©Getty Images

Brazil's Ministry of Tourism have claimed that the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games has contributed to record numbers of international visitors in 2016.

In total, 6.6 million foreign travellers supposedly visited Brazil last year.

This amounted to 4.8 per cent higher than 2015 and slightly above the 6.4 million figure cited for 2014 - when the FIFA World Cup took place in the country.

Visitors injected $6.2 billion (£5 billion/€5.8 billion) into the Brazilian economy, the Ministry said, compared to $5.84 billion (£4.70 billion/€5.51 billion) in 2015.

However, the benefit has been reduced somewhat by the plummeting value of the Brazilian real over the same period.

According to United Nations figures for 2015, Brazil remains the most popular destination in Latin America but remains outside the world's top 10 popular destinations.

"The numbers are extremely positive," said the country's Tourism Minister Marx Beltrao.

"When compared to the international context, they show that we can still make a great progress, but they also confirmed that we have been able to benefit from the mega events held in the country."

Crowds pictured in the Olympic Park during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games ©Getty Images
Crowds pictured in the Olympic Park during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games ©Getty Images

Most visitors to Brazil in 2016 came from Latin America and the United States. 

Argentina ranked first with 2.1 million tourists ahead of the US with 600,000. 

Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay were next on the list ahead of France, Germany and Italy.

This follows an attempt by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to project the Games as a success despite an avalanche of problems before and during the event.

"Independent" research conducted by Sponsorship Intelligence found that 82 per cent of spectators surveyed said their experience was better than expected and rated their enjoyment as 9.5 out of 10.

The association of the Olympic Games with terms such as excellence, diversity, friendship, respect and useful has also increased since London 2012, they said.

It was claimed the success of the event brought "pride and confidence to all Brazilians, bringing the country together at a difficult time".

Others concluded far less optimistically and claimed the Games were an unnecessary extravagance at a time of crippling political and economic problems across the country.