Overseas Arrivals and Departures – 2025-26 financial year
Overseas Arrivals and Departures data shows trends in travel to and from Australia.
Short-term visitor arrivals to Australia rose by 8 per cent over 2025-26 to 9.1 million.
While visits to Australia have risen for the 5th year in a row, they are still 3 per cent lower than the peak number of visitors to Australia, which was 9.3 million in 2018-19.
Holiday was again the most popular reason for visiting Australia with 45 per cent of visitors here for a holiday. This was followed by 32 per cent of visitors coming to visit family or friends, and 6 per cent whose reason for visiting was education.
New Zealanders took 1.4 million trips to Australia this year, more than from any other country. They were also the most common travellers ten years ago.
The top five countries visitors came to Australia from were New Zealand, China, the USA, the UK and Singapore.
| Top countries where visitors came from | Number of trips in 2025-26 | Proportion of total (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. New Zealand | 1,422,790 | 16 |
| 2. China(a) | 1,127,110 | 12 |
| 3. USA | 755,500 | 8 |
| 4. UK | 751,420 | 8 |
| 5. Singapore | 448,310 | 5 |
| Total (all countries) | 9,101,120 | 100 |
(a) Excludes SARs and Taiwan.
25 to 29 year-olds made up the largest age group of visitor arrivals over this year.
China was the top country of residence for this age group – making up 15 per cent of visitors from this age group.
At 12.7 million, the number of trips Aussies took overseas has increased by 4 per cent in the last year. This is also 32 per cent higher than ten years ago.
This year, around 3 out of 5 Aussies who went overseas were travelling for a holiday.
Indonesia was the most popular destination for Aussies travelling overseas, making up 14 per cent of trips. Ten years ago, New Zealand was the top destination country and Indonesia was second.
| Top destination countries for Aussies | Number of trips in 2025-26 | Proportion of total (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Indonesia | 1,777,270 | 14 |
| 2. New Zealand | 1,489,460 | 12 |
| 3. Japan | 992,550 | 8 |
| 4. China(a) | 743,960 | 6 |
| 5. USA | 679,600 | 5 |
| Total (all countries) | 12,711,650 | 100 |
(a) Excludes SARs and Taiwan.
The number of Aussies travelling to Japan has increased by 105 per cent since 2018-19, with 82 per cent travelling for a holiday.
Trips to Vietnam have also increased by 76 per cent, while trips to the UK and the USA have decreased since before the pandemic (down 9 per cent and 37 per cent respectively).
