Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia

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Statistics on international travel arriving in and departing from Australia.

Reference period
December 2024
Released
14/02/2025
  • Next Release 18/03/2025
    Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, January 2025
  • Next Release 11/04/2025
    Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, February 2025
  • Next Release 13/05/2025
    Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, March 2025
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Key statistics

In December 2024:

  • Short-term visitor arrivals: 945,280 – an increase of 7.8% on one year earlier
  • Short-term resident returns: 823,000 – an increase of 11.3% on one year earlier
  • Total arrivals: 1,853,030 – an increase of 8.7% on one year earlier
  • Total departures: 2,262,020 – an increase of 11.6% on one year earlier

These statistics report on the number of international border crossings rather than the number of people. Most data in this release are rounded to the nearest 10. As a result, sums of components may not add exactly to totals.

November 2024 data revised

The ABS identified a data quality issue with the source data which affected the state and territory of stay/residence data.  As a result, Overseas Arrivals and Departures data for November 2024 has been revised and released in this month’s (December 2024) publication. For further information see Methodology page in the History of changes section for the year 2024.

Overseas Migration Statistics

This release presents statistics on all overseas arrivals and departures, which is not the same as overseas migration statistics.

If you are looking for ABS statistics on overseas migration, please refer to:

Arrivals and departures

1.1 Total overseas arrivals - recent months

1.1 Total overseas arrivals - recent months

Bar chart with 2 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Millions. Data ranges from 1.48 to 2.38.
End of interactive chart.
  1. Provisional data for the most recent month has not had the full quality assurance methods applied as is done for the earlier months. Provisional data will be revised in the next issue of this publication.

1.2 Total overseas departures - recent months

1.2 Total overseas departures - recent months

Bar chart with 2 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Millions. Data ranges from 1.49 to 2.26.
End of interactive chart.
  1. Provisional data for the most recent month has not had the full quality assurance methods applied as is done for the earlier months. Provisional data will be revised in the next issue of this publication.

1.3 Total overseas arrivals and departures - December 2014 to January 2025(a)

1.3 Total overseas arrivals and departures - December 2014 to January 2025(a)

Line chart with 2 lines.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Millions. Data ranges from 0.01 to 2.38.
End of interactive chart.
  1. Provisional data for the most recent month has not had the full quality assurance methods applied as is done for the earlier months. Provisional estimates will be revised in the next issue of this publication.

1.4 Arrivals and departures by category of travel - selected months(a)(b)

1.4 Arrivals and departures by category of travel - selected months(a)(b)
Category of travelDec 2019 (no.)Dec 2022 (no.)Dec 2023 (no.)Dec 2024 (no.)Dec 2023 to Dec 2024 change (%)
Permanent arrivals7,81011,37014,88014,250-4.2
Long-term resident returns21,85024,63021,65021,7100.3
Short-term resident returns749,660529,980739,600823,00011.3
Long-term visitor arrivals32,25045,60051,74048,780-5.7
Short-term visitor arrivals1,077,720648,970876,860945,2807.8
Total arrivals1,889,3001,260,5501,704,7301,853,0308.7
Long-term resident departures29,39027,30027,84025,800-7.3
Short-term resident departures1,304,4801,029,6401,292,7301,450,63012.2
Long-term visitor departures35,29046,53048,85054,95012.5
Short-term visitor departures871,180411,820658,320730,64011.0
Total departures2,240,3401,515,2902,027,7402,262,02011.6
  1. For further information about categories of travel, see the Glossary section of the Methodology page.
  2. Category of travel data is not available from provisional estimates.

Visitor arrivals - short-term

Compares international visitor arrivals each month by source country and change at the state and territory level. Analysis in this section is undertaken on short-term trips (less than 1 year).

For visitor arrivals to Australia in December 2024:

  • A total of 945,280 short-term trips were recorded, an increase of 68,420 compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.
  • The number of trips was 12.3% lower than the pre-COVID level in December 2019.
  • New Zealand was the largest source country, accounting for 14% of all visitor arrivals.

2.1 Short-term visitor arrivals

2.1 Short-term visitor arrivals

Line chart with 121 data points.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Thousands. Data ranges from 2.25 to 1077.72.
End of interactive chart.

Countries where visitors came from

The three leading source countries where visitors came from were:

  • New Zealand (133,600 trips)
  • The UK (103,730)
  • The USA (95,060).

State or territory of stay

All travellers are asked their intended address in Australia upon arrival. For December 2024, the highest number of visitor arrivals for short-term trips was observed for New South Wales (358,290), whilst the Northern Territory recorded the fewest (3,870).

2.3 Short-term visitor arrivals, state or territory of stay - December 2024

Loading map...

This map presents the number of short-term visitor arrivals in Australia in December 2024, by their state of intended stay.

2.4 Short-term visitor arrivals, state or territory of stay

2.4 Short-term visitor arrivals, state or territory of stay
State or territory of stayDec 2019 (no.)Dec 2022 (no.)Dec 2023 (no.)Dec 2024 (no.)Dec 2023 to Dec 2024 change (%)
NSW388,710242,050351,760358,2901.9
Vic.299,560170,840236,680258,0309.0
Qld212,050120,560159,270176,29010.7
SA33,30023,11025,24028,54013.1
WA111,80070,61080,37097,54021.4
Tas.14,90010,1509,99012,40024.2
NT4,4802,5703,0003,87029.1
ACT12,9209,08010,43010,240-1.8
Australia(a)1,077,720648,970876,860945,2807.8
  1. Includes Other Territories.

Visitor arrivals - state and territory

Compares international visitor arrivals each month by source country for each state and territory. Analyses in this section are undertaken on short-term trips (less than 1 year) unless otherwise stated.

Arrivals - international students

Compares international student arrivals each month by visa type.

  • In December 2024 there were 39,930 international student arrivals to Australia, a decrease of 1,740 students compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.
  • The number of student arrivals in December 2024 was 3.2% higher than the pre-COVID levels in December 2019.

11.1 Arrivals - international students(a), Australia

11.1 Arrivals - international students(a), Australia

Bar chart with 4 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying Student visa.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying values. Data ranges from 540 to 27740.
End of interactive chart.
  1. International student visa holders whether it be for a short-term (less than 1 year) or long-term (1 year or more) duration. This is not the same as when a traveller self reports 'education' as their main reason for journey.
  2. English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students.

Resident returns - short-term

Compares international resident returns each month by destination country and change at the state and territory level. Analysis in this section is undertaken on short-term trips (less than 1 year).

For residents returning from overseas in December 2024:

  • A total of 823,000 short-term trips were recorded, an increase of 83,400 compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.
  • The number of trips was 9.8% higher than the pre-COVID level in December 2019.
  • New Zealand was the most popular destination country, accounting for 14% of all resident returns.

12.1 Short-term resident returns

12.1 Short-term resident returns

Line chart with 121 data points.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying .
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying Thousands. Data ranges from 5.07 to 1397.42.
End of interactive chart.

Destination countries

The three leading destination countries residents returned from were:

  • New Zealand (118,130 trips)
  • Indonesia (117,160)
  • Japan (62,570).

State or territory of residence

All travellers are asked their intended address in Australia upon arrival. For December 2024, the highest number of resident returns from short-term trips was observed for New South Wales (267,100), whilst the Northern Territory recorded the fewest (5,220).

12.3 Short-term resident returns, state or territory of residence - December 2024

Loading map...

This map presents the number of short-term resident returns in Australia in December 2024, by their state of intended residence.

12.4 Short-term resident returns, state or territory of residence

12.4 Short-term resident returns, state or territory of residence
State or territory of residenceDec 2019 (no.)Dec 2022 (no.)Dec 2023 (no.)Dec 2024 (no.)Dec 2023 to Dec 2024 change (%)
NSW244,330178,160243,140267,1009.9
Vic.195,340144,140196,210214,5509.3
Qld156,020108,460156,790172,3009.9
SA32,46020,85029,80036,92023.9
WA93,77059,55088,240103,41017.2
Tas.6,9404,0106,3107,00011.0
NT6,6503,7804,5705,22014.1
ACT14,02010,94014,35016,35013.9
Australia(a)749,660529,980739,600823,00011.3
  1. Includes Other Territories.

Recent changes

November 2024 data revised

In January 2025, the ABS identified a data quality issue affecting the state and territory of stay/residence data item for November 2024. The issue was identified as being due to a processing issue with the source data which caused some arrival records to have their state or territory of residence or stay recorded incorrectly. To fix this issue, the ABS worked with Home Affairs and the Australian Border Force and the affected cards were re-processed and data re-supplied to the ABS. The ABS reprocessed and revised Overseas Arrivals and Departures data for November 2024.

Revised Overseas Arrivals and Departures data for November 2024 has been released in the December 2024 issue. Time series spreadsheets for Tables 1-17 were revised. This information can also be found in the Methodology page, in the History of changes section for the year 2024.

Data downloads

Time series spreadsheets

Data files

Data Explorer datasets

Two Overseas Arrivals and Departures datasets are available in Data Explorer.

Caution: Data in Data Explorer is currently released after the 11:30am release on the ABS website. Please check the reference period when using Data Explorer.

For information on Data Explorer and how it works, see the Data Explorer user guide.

Data notes

This release contains overseas movement data which should not be interpreted as 'persons'. See the Scope section, paragraph 1 in the Methodology for more detail.

The statistics in this release have been rounded. See the Confidentiality section in the Methodology for more detail.

Enquiries

For enquiries about these and related statistics, contact the Customer Assistance Service via the ABS website Contact Us page. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to the ABS.

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 3401.0.