Chester Zoo welcomed a record number of visitors in 2025 which in turn led to record revenues of £70.5m, boosted by the opening of its new accommodation lodges allowing people to stay overnight. Tony McDonough reports
Chester Zoo has revealed full details of the most successful year in its history for both visitor numbers and revenues.
In 2025 the zoo, a registered charity which is already one of the UK’s most popular paid-for attractions, welcomed more than 2.14m people through the gates, the highest ever number. This contributed to record revenues of £70.5m, 8% higher than 2024.
According to the zoo’s annual accounts, posted on Companies House, visitors paid £21.3m in admissions in 2025, up from £20.2m in 2024. There was also a big rise in trading income from £18.1m to £21.8m.
Trading income covers money spent at Chester Zoo’s various restaurants, cafes and refreshment stands and this year its new offering, The Reserve, is already proving to be a valuable income stream.
For the first time The Reserve allows visitors to actually stay at the zoo overnight. These 51 safari-style lodges house up to nine people with a number offering views of a private savannah-style habitat, home to the zoo’s Northern giraffes.
Chester Zoo’s other main sources of income during the year were membership fees which totalled £15.8m, up from £13.8m in the previous year, and donations which rose to £6.6m from £5.9m in 2024.
Home to around 37,000 individual animals across more than 500 species as well as around 2,500 plant species, Chester Zoo also participates in 139 international conservation breeding programmes, working with 62 conservation partners in 19 countries.
It’s a huge operation with substantial staff costs. Employing almost 700 people, the zoo’s wage bill in 2025 totalled £30.2m, a big leap on the £26.1m in the previous year.
In the past two years capital expenditure at Chester Zoo has passed £50m. In 2025 it invested £19.8m. The Reserve, and another new attraction called Heart of Africa, were the main recipients of this spend.
To fund this expenditure the zoo has taken on extra borrowings. In 2023 it took out a new loan facility with Santander and at the end of 2025 net borrowings stood at £39.7m which was £11.1m more than in the previous year.
Chief financial officer Liz Carnie said the zoo has a “clear and robust plan” in place to manage this debt. She added: “Crucially, our strong operational cash flow gives us confidence that we can comfortably service and repay this debt while continuing to invest in our charitable mission.”
READ MORE: Stanlow refinery owner returns to profit amid £9bn revenues
READ MORE: When will Chester Grosvenor Hotel reopen?
Chester Zoo chief executive Jamie Christon also said: “The development of Heart of Africa and The Reserve was first imagined in 2016, following the successful opening of Islands, our last major capital project.
While planning continued for both developments, unforeseen events – including the Monsoon Forest fire in 2018 and the global pandemic in 2020 – meant that construction could not begin until late 2022.
“As a result, seeing the first visitors step into Heart of Africa and welcoming our first guests to The Reserve were moments of profound pride for me and for our passionate team of staff and volunteers.
“2025 marks the year we delivered on a long-held promise to our people, members and visitors.”