Johnson said Thursday that London beat Paris and New York as the most go-to destination with 18.8 million international visitors in 2015. | Suhaimi Abdullah/Getty Images Boris Johnson: More visitors go to British Museum than to all of Belgium

Even though London mayor Boris Johnson "is a lover of Brussels," he declared his own city “better than at any time in its history."

Johnson said Thursday that London beat Paris and New York as the most go-to destination with 18.8 million international visitors in 2015.

"We had more visitors to the British Museum alone than came to the whole of Belgium,” Johnson said in response to questions from the public at his final People's Question Time before London's mayoral elections in May.

"And I say that as a huge fan by the way of Belgium and a lover of Belgium and a lover of Brussels of course, which is where I've lived for many, many years and a city I admire very much,” Johnson said. He added that his love for Brussels should “not be confused with institutions that are located in that city.”

Johnson worked as a Brussels correspondent for British newspaper The Daily Telegraph in the early 1990s.

The mayor said that he is “massive pro-European” but reiterated that the U.K. “should not be terrified about doing deals on its own.” Last month he declared he would be supporting the Vote Leave campaign in the U.K.'s In/Out referendum on EU membership on June 23.