3401.0 - Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, May 2007  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 06/07/2007   
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MAIN FEATURES


SHORT-TERM VISITOR ARRIVALS

In trend terms, short-term visitor arrivals to Australia in May 2007 (480,200 movements) changed little compared with April 2007 (479,900 movements). Short-term visitor arrivals are currently 6.0% higher than when the series last troughed in July 2006 (453,100 movements) and 5.3% higher than in May 2006 (455,900 movements).

SHORT-TERM VISITOR ARRIVALS
Graph: Short-Term Visitor Arrivals



The following table presents the top ten source countries (based on original estimates) for short-term visitor arrivals during May 2007. Seasonally adjusted and trend estimates are also presented for these countries, along with the percentage change in trend compared with April 2007 and May 2006.

Short-term Visitor Arrivals, Major Source Countries - May 2007
Trend
Seasonally
Adjusted
Original
Apr 07 to May 07
May 06 to May 07
'000
'000
'000
Trend % change
Trend % change
New Zealand
98.7
105.4
95.7
1.6
10.8
Japan
44.2
39.6
32.8
-4.1
-15.8
United States of America
38.7
37.2
29.7
-0.1
0.1
United Kingdom
60.4
59.9
29.6
-0.7
1.5
Singapore
23.2
23.7
23.5
0.9
11.1
China
30.9
26.9
19.8
-0.3
19.3
Korea
22.5
22.0
18.0
0.9
6.9
Malaysia
13.6
12.4
13.9
-0.7
11.1
India
7.7
7.4
11.0
0.5
6.1
Hong Kong
12.4
12.5
8.7
0.2
-6.1



SHORT-TERM RESIDENT DEPARTURES

In trend terms, short-term resident departures from Australia in May 2007 (441,700 movements) were 1.0% higher than in April 2007 (437,400 movements). Short-term resident departures are currently 4.2% higher than in December 2006, when a trend break was introduced.

SHORT-TERM RESIDENT DEPARTURES
Graph: Short-Term Resident Departures



The following table presents the top ten destinations (based on original estimates) for short-term resident departures during May 2007. Seasonally adjusted and trend estimates are also presented for these countries, along with the percentage change in trend compared with April 2007 and May 2006.

Short-term Resident Departures, Major Destinations - May 2007
Trend
Seasonally
Adjusted
Original
Apr 07 to May 07
May 06 to May 07
'000
'000
'000
Trend % change
Trend % change
New Zealand
73.1
73.6
56.1
0.1
4.0
United Kingdom
31.9
33.1
50.4
-0.3
-6.5
United States of America
39.7
39.0
40.8
1.3
7.7
Thailand
32.6
32.6
24.8
2.4
38.2
China
25.1
26.7
24.7
4.5
20.0
Indonesia(a)
22.6
22.8
20.0
-0.1
42.2
Singapore
18.0
18.7
17.8
2.2
3.6
Italy
8.9
9.0
15.3
3.8
-1.4
Hong Kong
17.8
18.9
14.9
3.6
9.7
Fiji
14.8
14.9
13.5
1.9
-11.0
(a) Break in trend series from December 2006.



PERMANENT AND LONG-TERM MOVEMENTS

There were 11,440 permanent (settler) arrivals to Australia during May 2007, an increase of 8.0% compared with May 2006 (10,600 movements). People born in New Zealand accounted for the largest proportion of settlers (18%), followed by people born in the United Kingdom (15%), India (11%) and China (8%).


There were 5,520 Australian residents departing permanently from Australia during May 2007, an increase of 5.8% compared with May 2006 (5,220 movements).


Statistics on overseas arrivals and departures relate to the number of movements of travellers rather than the number of travellers. Care should be taken when using long-term movements data as it is known that some individuals who travel multiple times in a year are counted each time they cross Australia's borders (see paragraph 5 of the Explanatory Notes). Long-term movements in this publication are not an appropriate source of migration statistics. For further information refer to Australian Demographic Statistics (cat. no. 3101.0) and Information Paper: Statistical Implications of Improved Methods for Estimating Net Overseas Migration, Australia, 2007 (cat. no. 3107.0.55.005).



SHORT-TERM TRAVEL - SOUTH AFRICA

Short-term visitor arrivals

Trend estimates provide the best method to analyse the underlying direction of the short-term visitor arrivals series for South Africa. Over the ten year period ending May 2007, trend estimates for visitor arrivals from South Africa have fluctuated, showing periods of strong growth and decline. Since August 2006 the series has shown constant and strong growth, increasing nearly 20% over the ten month period. Currently, the number of movements is 44% higher than in May 1997. The high point during the ten year period was December 1998 (5,500 movements) and the low point was in September 1997 (3,700 movements).

SOUTH AFRICA, Short-term Visitor Arrivals
Graph: South Africa, Short-term Visitor Arrivals



In original terms, in the year ended May 2007 short-term visitor arrivals from South Africa represented 1.1% (60,200 movements) of all short-term visitor arrivals to Australia. This was slightly higher than the proportion for the previous twelve months (1.0%, or 54,200 movements).


In the year ended May 2007, short-term visitor arrivals from South Africa stated visiting friends and relatives (35%) as their main reason for journey, followed closely by holiday (34%). The other main reason for journey was business (17%). In comparison, the main reasons for journey for all short-term visitors to Australia were holiday (51%), visiting friends and relatives (20%) and business (11%). The median age of short-term visitor arrivals from South Africa was 44 years (39 years for all short-term visitor arrivals), and the median duration of intended stay was 15 days (10 days for all short-term visitor arrivals).


New South Wales (36%), Western Australia (25%), Queensland (19%) and Victoria (13%) were the main states/territories of intended stay for short-term visitor arrivals from South Africa in the year ended May 2007. The main destinations for all short-term visitor arrivals to Australia were New South Wales (39%), Queensland (28%), Victoria (18%) and Western Australia (9%).


Short-term resident departures

Trend estimates provide the best method to analyse the underlying direction of the short-term resident departures series for South Africa. While the series has fluctuated over the last ten years it has generally followed an upward trend. The number of movements have more than doubled over the ten year period to May 2007. The high point during the past ten years was the current month (5,300 movements) and the low point was in October 1997 (2,100 movements).

SOUTH AFRICA, Short-term Resident Departures
Graph: South Africa, Short-term Resident Departures



In original terms, in the year ended May 2007 short-term resident departures to South Africa represented 1.1% (58,500 movements) of all short-term resident departures from Australia. This proportion was the same as for the previous twelve months (1.1%, or 51,400 movements).


In the year ended May 2007, short-term resident departures to South Africa stated holiday (39%) as their main reason for journey, followed by visiting friends and relatives (32%) and business (16%). In comparison, the main reasons for journey for all short-term residents departing Australia were holiday (48%), visiting friends and relatives (25%) and business (15%). The median age of short-term resident departures to South Africa was 43 years (41 years for all short-term resident departures) and the median duration of intended stay was 21 days (15 days for all short-term resident departures).



STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE

The above presentation of movements in estimates does not take into account whether the change in movement is statistically significant. Care should be taken when interpreting the impact of numeric and/or percentage change. Please see the Standard Errors section of this issue for more detail.