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Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia

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Statistics on international travel arriving in and departing from Australia.

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Reference period
September 2024
Released
12/11/2024
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Key statistics

In September 2024:

  • Short-term visitor arrivals: 630,700 – an increase of 7.9% on one year earlier
  • Short-term resident returns: 1,020,960 – an increase of 8.7% on one year earlier
  • Total arrivals: 1,733,340 – an increase of 8.1% on one year earlier
  • Total departures: 1,796,550 – an increase of 13.0% 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.

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. 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. 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. 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)
Category of travelSep 2019 (no.)Sep 2022 (no.)Sep 2023 (no.)Sep 2024 (no.)Sep 2023 to Sep 2024 change (%)
Permanent arrivals7,5208,69011,85012,1602.6
Long-term resident returns10,63013,27011,60011,250-3.0
Short-term resident returns992,820633,790939,0601,020,9608.7
Long-term visitor arrivals40,17043,93055,59058,2804.8
Short-term visitor arrivals694,960371,850584,620630,7007.9
Total arrivals1,746,1001,071,5201,602,7201,733,3408.1
Long-term resident departures16,93014,79017,93019,6309.5
Short-term resident departures1,133,100722,2201,062,5301,172,43010.3
Long-term visitor departures18,56028,62022,59027,14020.1
Short-term visitor departures627,950274,920486,460577,35018.7
Total departures1,796,5401,040,5501,589,5001,796,55013.0
  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 September 2024:

  • A total of 630,700 short-term trips were recorded, an increase of 46,070 compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.
  • The number of trips was 9.2% lower than the pre-COVID level in September 2019.
  • New Zealand was the largest source country, accounting for 19% of all visitor arrivals.

Countries where visitors came from

The three leading source countries where visitors came from were:

  • New Zealand (118,440 trips)
  • China (73,570)
  • The UK (41,980).

Details

State or territory of stay

All travellers are asked their intended address in Australia upon arrival. For September 2024, the highest number of visitor arrivals for short-term trips was observed for New South Wales (233,670), whilst Tasmania recorded the fewest (4,230).

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

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

2.4 Short-term visitor arrivals, state or territory of stay
State or territory of staySep 2019 (no.)Sep 2022 (no.)Sep 2023 (no.)Sep 2024 (no.)Sep 2023 to Sep 2024 change (%)
NSW251,730128,980220,760233,6705.8
Vic.168,98090,290139,180151,0008.5
Qld160,01086,910135,030141,6304.9
SA22,78012,02016,69017,9507.6
WA69,39041,29057,12067,93018.9
Tas.5,1303,0303,7904,23011.7
NT8,4503,8604,1104,82017.4
ACT8,4605,4307,7909,37020.2
Australia(a)694,960371,850584,620630,7007.9
  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.

New South Wales

Victoria

Queensland

South Australia

Western Australia

Tasmania

Northern Territory

Australian Capital Territory

Arrivals - international students

Compares international student arrivals each month by visa type.

  • In September 2024 there were 47,230 international student arrivals to Australia, an increase of 2,130 students compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.
  • The number of student arrivals in September 2024 was 4.3% higher than the pre-COVID levels in September 2019.
  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 September 2024:

  • A total of 1,020,960 short-term trips were recorded, an increase of 81,900 compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.
  • The number of trips was 2.8% higher than the pre-COVID level in September 2019.
  • Indonesia was the most popular destination country, accounting for 15% of all resident returns.

Destination countries

The three leading destination countries residents returned from were:

  • Indonesia (155,230 trips)
  • New Zealand (108,740)
  • The UK (68,300).

Details

State or territory of residence

All travellers are asked their intended address in Australia upon arrival. For September 2024, the highest number of resident returns from short-term trips was observed for New South Wales (305,990), whilst the Northern Territory recorded the fewest (6,080).

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

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

12.4 Short-term resident returns, state or territory of residence
State or territory of residenceSep 2019 (no.)Sep 2022 (no.)Sep 2023 (no.)Sep 2024 (no.)Sep 2023 to Sep 2024 change (%)
NSW318,840212,180295,260305,9903.6
Vic.292,550192,520286,720286,7500.0
Qld176,460110,540172,750212,14022.8
SA47,78024,48040,32046,67015.8
WA120,11071,010112,440134,69019.8
Tas.11,1206,8309,6709,7500.7
NT8,0004,2405,2106,08016.6
ACT17,76011,89016,50018,76013.7
Australia(a)992,820633,790939,0601,020,9608.7
  1. Includes Other Territories.

Data downloads

Notes

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Time series spreadsheets

Data files

Data Explorer datasets

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

1. Visitor arrivals and resident returns, Selected Countries of Residence/Destinations

2. Visitor arrivals and resident returns, Intended Length of Stay and Main Reason for Journey

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

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 3401.0.

Article archive

Overseas arrivals and departures, Australia - 2023-24 financial year

Methodology

Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia methodology, September 2024