3401.0 - Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, Jun 2009  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 04/08/2009   
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MAIN FEATURES


SHORT-TERM VISITOR ARRIVALS

In trend terms, short-term visitor arrivals to Australia during June 2009 (459,600 movements) decreased 1.0% when compared with May 2009 (464,100 movements). Currently, short-term visitor arrivals are 1.5% lower than in June 2008.

SHORT-TERM VISITOR ARRIVALS, Australia
Graph: SHORT-TERM VISITOR ARRIVALS, Australia


The following table presents the top ten source countries (based on original estimates) for short-term visitor arrivals during June 2009. When trend estimates for short-term visitor arrivals for June 2009 and June 2008 were compared, the highest percentage increase was recorded by Malaysia (45.5%) while the highest percentage decrease was recorded by Japan (29.5%).

Short-term Visitor Arrivals, Australia - June 2009

Trend
Seasonally Adjusted
Original
May 09 to Jun 09
Jun 08 to Jun 09
Source countries(a)
'000
'000
'000
Trend % change
Trend % change

New Zealand
88.6
84.9
86.1
-2.0
-4.0
United States of America
37.6
36.1
39.3
0.3
-0.5
Singapore
24.5
24.3
29.3
-
6.9
UK, CIs & IOM(b)
58.7
59.9
29.1
1.3
4.9
Malaysia
20.0
19.9
16.0
2.6
45.5
Japan
27.5
21.7
15.7
-5.4
-29.5
China
27.2
23.7
14.4
-7.6
-10.6
Korea
15.6
15.3
12.7
-0.4
-20.3
Indonesia
8.8
9.1
10.2
3.1
12.6
India
10.2
10.5
10.1
-0.4
3.0

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Top 10 source countries based on original estimates.
(b) United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.



'What if'....? Future scenarios

The most recent trend estimates for short-term visitor arrivals are likely to be revised when the next month's seasonally adjusted estimates become available. To assist in analysing these movement trends, the approximate effects of two possible scenarios on the previous trend estimate of short-term visitor arrivals is presented:
      1 The July seasonally adjusted estimate of visitor arrivals is 2.8% higher than June.
      2 The July seasonally adjusted estimate of visitor arrivals is 2.8% lower than June.
WHAT IF...? REVISIONS TO STVA TREND ESTIMATES, Australia
Graph: WHAT IF...?  REVISIONS TO STVA TREND ESTIMATES, Australia


The figure of 2.8% for visitor arrivals represents the average absolute monthly percentage change for visitor arrivals over the last ten years. For further information on the effect of new seasonally adjusted estimates on short-term visitor arrival trend estimates see paragraph 27 of the Explanatory Notes.


SHORT-TERM RESIDENT DEPARTURES

The trend estimates series has been suspended for April 2009 and onwards. For further information please see the SUSPENSION OF TREND ESTIMATES (SHORT-TERM RESIDENT DEPARTURES) series in the NOTES section of the KEY FIGURES.

SHORT-TERM RESIDENT DEPARTURES, Australia
Graph: SHORT-TERM RESIDENT DEPARTURES, Australia


The following table presents the top ten source countries (based on original estimates) for short-term resident departures during June 2009.

Short-term Resident Departures, Australia - June 2009

Trend
Seasonally Adjusted
Original
May 09 to Jun 09
Jun 08 to Jun 09
Destination countries(a)
'000
'000
'000
Trend % change
Trend % change

New Zealand
np
87.4
67.0
np
np
UK, CIs & IOM(b)
np
35.3
55.6
np
np
Indonesia
np
44.2
52.1
np
np
United States of America
np
47.6
51.9
np
np
Thailand
np
30.0
30.6
np
np
Fiji
np
18.4
19.8
np
np
China
np
21.9
19.0
np
np
Malaysia
np
18.1
19.0
np
np
Singapore
np
16.9
16.9
np
np
Italy
np
9.1
14.8
np
np

np not for publication
(a) Top 10 destination countries based on original estimates.
(b) United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.



PERMANENT AND LONG-TERM 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 permanent and 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. For example in the financial year 2006-07 there were over 10 million multiple movements accounting for 44% of all movements (see paragraph 5 of the Explanatory Notes). Permanent and 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).

There were 10,960 permanent (settler) arrivals to Australia during June 2009, a decrease of 16.0% compared with June 2008 (13,050 movements). People born in India accounted for the largest proportion of settlers (11.8%), followed by people born in New Zealand (11.5%), the UK, CIs & IOM (11.2%) and China (9.0%).

There were 5,370 Australian residents departing permanently from Australia during June 2009, an increase of 3.3% compared with June 2008 (5,200 movements).


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.