3401.0 - Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, Apr 2007  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 05/06/2007   
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MAIN FEATURES


SHORT-TERM VISITOR ARRIVALS

In trend terms, short-term visitor arrivals to Australia in April 2007 (483,500 movements) were 0.4% higher than in March 2007 (481,500 movements). Short-term visitor arrivals are currently 6.9% higher than when the series last troughed in July 2006 (452,500 movements) and 5.4% higher than in April 2006 (458,700 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 April 2007. Seasonally adjusted and trend estimates are also presented for these countries, along with the percentage change in trend compared with March 2007 and April 2006.

Short-term Visitor Arrivals, Major Source Countries - April 2007

Trend
Seasonally Adjusted
Original
Mar 07 to Apr 07
Apr 06 to Apr 07
'000
'000
'000
Trend % change
Trend % change

New Zealand
93.8
93.8
98.2
-
4.3
United Kingdom
61.5
60.1
51.8
-0.3
2.0
Japan
48.5
46.4
40.6
-1.9
-8.8
United States of America
39.7
40.6
35.3
1.6
1.9
China
32.9
30.0
26.5
3.3
27.1
Korea
22.5
23.9
20.8
0.7
9.1
Singapore
22.7
22.6
19.8
0.7
8.3
Hong Kong
12.3
12.1
14.7
-0.9
-8.4
Malaysia
14.5
14.7
12.9
-0.2
17.6
Thailand
6.5
6.1
11.1
-0.6
4.3

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)



SHORT-TERM RESIDENT DEPARTURES

In trend terms, short-term resident departures from Australia in April 2007 (435,200 movements) were 0.7% higher than in March 2007 (432,000 movements). Short-term resident departures are currently 2.7% 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 April 2007. Seasonally adjusted and trend estimates are also presented for these countries, along with the percentage change in trend compared with March 2007 and April 2006.

Short-term Resident Departures, Major Destinations - April 2007

Trend
Seasonally Adjusted
Original
Mar 07 to Apr 07
Apr 06 to Apr 07
'000
'000
'000
Trend % change
Trend % change

New Zealand
72.7
72.1
75.1
-0.4
3.8
United States of America
39.4
39.8
40.9
1.7
7.5
Thailand
31.6
31.6
32.5
2.7
37.6
United Kingdom
31.3
31.6
31.2
-1.2
-5.1
China
22.8
23.5
27.8
2.4
12.4
Indonesia(a)
22.4
23.1
21.5
-0.4
40.7
Hong Kong
16.3
16.4
17.8
1.1
1.9
Singapore
17.0
17.4
17.7
0.3
-2.3
Fiji
14.2
15.5
15.2
-0.5
-13.9
Malaysia
15.4
14.7
13.0
0.7
9.3

(a) Break in trend series from December 2006.



PERMANENT AND LONG-TERM MOVEMENTS

There were 11,180 permanent (settler) arrivals to Australia during April 2007, an increase of 0.7% compared with April 2006 (11,100 movements). People born in New Zealand accounted for the largest proportion of settlers (20%), followed by people born in the United Kingdom (16%), India (10%) and China (9%).


There were 6,870 Australian residents departing permanently from Australia during April 2007, an increase of 10.2% compared with April 2006 (6,230 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 - SINGAPORE

Short-term visitor arrivals

Trend estimates provide the best method to analyse the underlying direction of the short-term visitor arrivals series for Singapore. Over the ten year period ending April 2007, trend estimates for visitor arrivals from Singapore have fluctuated. After a period of stability, the last twelve months have seen slightly increasing short-term visitor arrivals from Singapore which followed a downturn in the previous twelve months. Currently, the number of movements is 20% higher than in April 1997. The high point during the ten year period was July 2001 (27,500 movements) and the low point was in April 1997 (19,000 movements).

SINGAPORE, Short-term Visitor Arrivals
Graph: Singapore, Short-term Visitor Arrivals



In original terms, in the year ended April 2007 short-term visitor arrivals from Singapore represented 4.6% (258,100 movements) of all short-term visitor arrivals to Australia. This was slightly lower than the proportion for the previous twelve months (4.7%, or 260,400 movements).


In the year ended April 2007, short-term visitor arrivals from Singapore stated holiday (47%) as their main reason for journey, followed by business (20%), and visiting friends and relatives (14%). In comparison, the main reasons for journey for all short-term visitors to Australia were holiday (52%), visiting friends and relatives (20%) and business (11%). The median age of short-term visitor arrivals from Singapore was 36 years (39 years for all short-term visitor arrivals), and the median duration of intended stay was 9 days (10 days for all short-term visitor arrivals).


New South Wales (26%), Victoria (22%), Western Australia (26%) and Queensland (18%) were the main states/territories of intended stay for short-term visitor arrivals from Singapore in the year ended April 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 Singapore. While the series has fluctuated over the last ten years it has generally followed an upward trend. The high point during the past ten years was April 2006 (17,400 movements) and the low point was in April 1997 (8,200 movements). Short-term resident departures to Singapore doubled during the ten year period.

SINGAPORE, Short-term Resident Departures
Graph: Singapore, Short-term Resident Departures



In original terms, in the year ended April 2007 short-term resident departures to Singapore represented 4.0% (204,100 movements) of all short-term resident departures from Australia. This proportion has decreased from 4.2% (201,400 movements) for the previous twelve months.


In the year ended April 2007, short-term resident departures to Singapore stated holiday (38%) as their main reason for journey, followed by business (29%) and visiting friends and relatives (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 Singapore was 43 years (41 years for all short-term resident departures) and the median duration of intended stay was 10 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.