Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia

Latest release

Statistics on international travel arriving in and departing from Australia

Reference period

May 2026

Released

14/07/2026

Release date and time

14/07/2026 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

In May 2026:

Short-term visitor arrivals: 609,040 – a decrease of 0.4% on one year earlier.
Short-term resident returns: 922,460 – a decrease of 4.9% on one year earlier.
Total arrivals: 1,601,820 – a decrease of 3.5% on one year earlier.
Total departures: 1,685,410 – an increase of 0.3% 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. Overseas arrivals and departures (OAD) data, including permanent and long-term movements, should not be used as a measure of overseas migration. This data does not reflect the official ABS definition of migration and may lead to inaccurate interpretations. For instance, OAD permanent and long-term arrivals may be increasing while actual overseas migrant arrivals are decreasing for the same period.

For accurate insights into overseas migration, please refer to the ABS’s official overseas migration statistics:

For more information, see Use Net Overseas Migration statistics to understand overseas migration, not Overseas Arrivals and Departures.

Arrivals and departures

1.1 Total overseas arrivals and departures - May 2016 to June 2026(a)
	Arrivals (M)	Departures (M)
May 2016	1.30	1.39
Jun 2016	1.33	1.58
Jul 2016	1.83	1.57
Aug 2016	1.51	1.55
Sep 2016	1.59	1.60
Oct 2016	1.78	1.50
Nov 2016	1.51	1.54
Dec 2016	1.72	1.99
Jan 2017	2.07	1.78
Feb 2017	1.63	1.39
Mar 2017	1.52	1.58
Apr 2017	1.65	1.71
May 2017	1.40	1.49
Jun 2017	1.42	1.67
Jul 2017	1.91	1.65
Aug 2017	1.62	1.66
Sep 2017	1.67	1.70
Oct 2017	1.88	1.57
Nov 2017	1.60	1.64
Dec 2017	1.76	2.08
Jan 2018	2.13	1.81
Feb 2018	1.73	1.52
Mar 2018	1.68	1.74
Apr 2018	1.67	1.71
May 2018	1.48	1.56
Jun 2018	1.51	1.79
Jul 2018	2.01	1.73
Aug 2018	1.72	1.77
Sep 2018	1.72	1.76
Oct 2018	1.96	1.64
Nov 2018	1.67	1.72
Dec 2018	1.85	2.18
Jan 2019	2.22	1.91
Feb 2019	1.79	1.52
Mar 2019	1.66	1.68
Apr 2019	1.67	1.83
May 2019	1.59	1.63
Jun 2019	1.56	1.80
Jul 2019	2.01	1.76
Aug 2019	1.78	1.81
Sep 2019	1.75	1.80
Oct 2019	1.98	1.68
Nov 2019	1.72	1.74
Dec 2019	1.89	2.24
Jan 2020	2.26	1.97
Feb 2020	1.57	1.29
Mar 2020	0.92	0.83
Apr 2020	0.02	0.06
May 2020	0.02	0.03
Jun 2020	0.03	0.04
Jul 2020	0.02	0.06
Aug 2020	0.01	0.06
Sep 2020	0.02	0.05
Oct 2020	0.02	0.05
Nov 2020	0.03	0.04
Dec 2020	0.03	0.05
Jan 2021	0.03	0.04
Feb 2021	0.03	0.03
Mar 2021	0.03	0.03
Apr 2021	0.05	0.06
May 2021	0.11	0.11
Jun 2021	0.10	0.10
Jul 2021	0.07	0.09
Aug 2021	0.03	0.04
Sep 2021	0.02	0.03
Oct 2021	0.02	0.04
Nov 2021	0.07	0.09
Dec 2021	0.20	0.23
Jan 2022	0.27	0.19
Feb 2022	0.27	0.18
Mar 2022	0.37	0.34
Apr 2022	0.57	0.61
May 2022	0.65	0.66
Jun 2022	0.73	0.88
Jul 2022	1.08	0.97
Aug 2022	1.03	0.94
Sep 2022	1.07	1.04
Oct 2022	1.21	1.01
Nov 2022	1.19	1.18
Dec 2022	1.26	1.52
Jan 2023	1.61	1.38
Feb 2023	1.38	1.07
Mar 2023	1.34	1.32
Apr 2023	1.37	1.43
May 2023	1.30	1.36
Jun 2023	1.36	1.56
Jul 2023	1.74	1.49
Aug 2023	1.54	1.52
Sep 2023	1.60	1.59
Oct 2023	1.74	1.48
Nov 2023	1.56	1.59
Dec 2023	1.70	2.03
Jan 2024	2.12	1.75
Feb 2024	1.79	1.49
Mar 2024	1.61	1.71
Apr 2024	1.63	1.65
May 2024	1.48	1.56
Jun 2024	1.53	1.76
Jul 2024	1.93	1.65
Aug 2024	1.66	1.69
Sep 2024	1.73	1.80
Oct 2024	1.94	1.66
Nov 2024	1.71	1.78
Dec 2024	1.85	2.26
Jan 2025	2.38	2.03
Feb 2025	1.87	1.52
Mar 2025	1.69	1.67
Apr 2025	1.76	1.93
May 2025	1.66	1.68
Jun 2025	1.62	1.81
Jul 2025	2.07	1.82
Aug 2025	1.81	1.83
Sep 2025	1.83	1.92
Oct 2025	2.10	1.81
Nov 2025	1.85	1.91
Dec 2025	2.00	2.45
Jan 2026	2.52	2.10
Feb 2026	1.99	1.68
Mar 2026	1.83	1.88
Apr 2026	1.82	1.82
May 2026	1.60	1.69
Jun 2026	1.56	1.84

1.1 Total overseas arrivals and departures - May 2016 to June 2026(a)

["","Arrivals","Departures"]

[["May 2016","Jun 2016","Jul 2016","Aug 2016","Sep 2016","Oct 2016","Nov 2016","Dec 2016","Jan 2017","Feb 2017","Mar 2017","Apr 2017","May 2017","Jun 2017","Jul 2017","Aug 2017","Sep 2017","Oct 2017","Nov 2017","Dec 2017","Jan 2018","Feb 2018","Mar 2018","Apr 2018","May 2018","Jun 2018","Jul 2018","Aug 2018","Sep 2018","Oct 2018","Nov 2018","Dec 2018","Jan 2019","Feb 2019","Mar 2019","Apr 2019","May 2019","Jun 2019","Jul 2019","Aug 2019","Sep 2019","Oct 2019","Nov 2019","Dec 2019","Jan 2020","Feb 2020","Mar 2020","Apr 2020","May 2020","Jun 2020","Jul 2020","Aug 2020","Sep 2020","Oct 2020","Nov 2020","Dec 2020","Jan 2021","Feb 2021","Mar 2021","Apr 2021","May 2021","Jun 2021","Jul 2021","Aug 2021","Sep 2021","Oct 2021","Nov 2021","Dec 2021","Jan 2022","Feb 2022","Mar 2022","Apr 2022","May 2022","Jun 2022","Jul 2022","Aug 2022","Sep 2022","Oct 2022","Nov 2022","Dec 2022","Jan 2023","Feb 2023","Mar 2023","Apr 2023","May 2023","Jun 2023","Jul 2023","Aug 2023","Sep 2023","Oct 2023","Nov 2023","Dec 2023","Jan 2024","Feb 2024","Mar 2024","Apr 2024","May 2024","Jun 2024","Jul 2024","Aug 2024","Sep 2024","Oct 2024","Nov 2024","Dec 2024","Jan 2025","Feb 2025","Mar 2025","Apr 2025","May 2025","Jun 2025","Jul 2025","Aug 2025","Sep 2025","Oct 2025","Nov 2025","Dec 2025","Jan 2026","Feb 2026","Mar 2026","Apr 2026","May 2026","Jun 2026"],[[1.3],[1.33],[1.83],[1.51],[1.59],[1.78],[1.51],[1.72],[2.07],[1.63],[1.52],[1.65],[1.4],[1.42],[1.91],[1.62],[1.67],[1.88],[1.6],[1.76],[2.13],[1.73],[1.68],[1.67],[1.48],[1.51],[2.01],[1.72],[1.72],[1.96],[1.67],[1.85],[2.22],[1.79],[1.66],[1.67],[1.59],[1.56],[2.01],[1.78],[1.75],[1.98],[1.72],[1.89],[2.26],[1.57],[0.92],[0.02],[0.02],[0.03],[0.02],[0.01],[0.02],[0.02],[0.03],[0.03],[0.03],[0.03],[0.03],[0.05],[0.11],[0.1],[0.07],[0.03],[0.02],[0.02],[0.07],[0.2],[0.27],[0.27],[0.37],[0.57],[0.65],[0.73],[1.08],[1.03],[1.07],[1.21],[1.19],[1.26],[1.61],[1.38],[1.34],[1.37],[1.3],[1.36],[1.74],[1.54],[1.6],[1.74],[1.56],[1.7],[2.12],[1.79],[1.61],[1.63],[1.48],[1.53],[1.93],[1.66],[1.73],[1.94],[1.71],[1.85],[2.38],[1.87],[1.69],[1.76],[1.66],[1.62],[2.07],[1.81],[1.83],[2.1],[1.85],[2],[2.52],[1.99],[1.83],[1.82],[1.6],[1.56]],[[1.39],[1.58],[1.57],[1.55],[1.6],[1.5],[1.54],[1.99],[1.78],[1.39],[1.58],[1.71],[1.49],[1.67],[1.65],[1.66],[1.7],[1.57],[1.64],[2.08],[1.81],[1.52],[1.74],[1.71],[1.56],[1.79],[1.73],[1.77],[1.76],[1.64],[1.72],[2.18],[1.91],[1.52],[1.68],[1.83],[1.63],[1.8],[1.76],[1.81],[1.8],[1.68],[1.74],[2.24],[1.97],[1.29],[0.83],[0.06],[0.03],[0.04],[0.06],[0.06],[0.05],[0.05],[0.04],[0.05],[0.04],[0.03],[0.03],[0.06],[0.11],[0.1],[0.09],[0.04],[0.03],[0.04],[0.09],[0.23],[0.19],[0.18],[0.34],[0.61],[0.66],[0.88],[0.97],[0.94],[1.04],[1.01],[1.18],[1.52],[1.38],[1.07],[1.32],[1.43],[1.36],[1.56],[1.49],[1.52],[1.59],[1.48],[1.59],[2.03],[1.75],[1.49],[1.71],[1.65],[1.56],[1.76],[1.65],[1.69],[1.8],[1.66],[1.78],[2.26],[2.03],[1.52],[1.67],[1.93],[1.68],[1.81],[1.82],[1.83],[1.92],[1.81],[1.91],[2.45],[2.1],[1.68],[1.88],[1.82],[1.69],[1.84]]]

[]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":"24","precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"Millions","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"(M)","table_units":"(M)","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":null,"precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

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.

1.2 Arrivals and departures by category of travel - selected months(a)(b)
Category of travel	May 2019 (no.)	May 2024 (no.)	May 2025 (no.)	May 2026 (no.)	May 2025 to May 2026 change (%)
Permanent arrivals	9,690	12,680	11,740	11,830	0.8
Long-term resident returns	9,500	8,790	9,550	9,360	-2.0
Short-term resident returns	866,280	807,920	970,060	922,460	-4.9
Long-term visitor arrivals	34,130	48,240	56,990	49,140	-13.8
Short-term visitor arrivals	668,280	600,780	611,180	609,040	-0.4
Total arrivals	1,587,870	1,478,410	1,659,520	1,601,820	-3.5
Long-term resident departures	20,860	20,700	18,740	18,140	-3.2
Short-term resident departures	932,410	930,860	1,010,840	994,870	-1.6
Long-term visitor departures	16,920	23,060	26,310	26,610	1.1
Short-term visitor departures	662,600	584,700	623,870	645,790	3.5
Total departures	1,632,790	1,559,320	1,679,750	1,685,410	0.3

For further information about categories of travel, see the Glossary section of the Methodology page.
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 short-term visitor arrivals to Australia in May 2026:

A total of 609,040 trips were recorded, a decrease of 2,140 (0.4%) compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.
The number of trips was 8.9% lower than the pre-COVID level in May 2019.
New Zealand was the largest source country, accounting for 18.2% of all visitor arrivals.

2.1 Short-term visitor arrivals
	Short-term visitor arrivals, Australia ('000)
May 2016	541.28
Jun 2016	555.07
Jul 2016	715.78
Aug 2016	632.14
Sep 2016	647.04
Oct 2016	695.92
Nov 2016	721.83
Dec 2016	976.15
Jan 2017	723.99
Feb 2017	787.58
Mar 2017	772.23
Apr 2017	700.01
May 2017	579.09
Jun 2017	606.01
Jul 2017	746.41
Aug 2017	702.90
Sep 2017	663.59
Oct 2017	741.36
Nov 2017	777.09
Dec 2017	1,015.04
Jan 2018	702.58
Feb 2018	914.53
Mar 2018	872.35
Apr 2018	679.78
May 2018	609.45
Jun 2018	646.65
Jul 2018	774.36
Aug 2018	741.71
Sep 2018	690.19
Oct 2018	753.96
Nov 2018	802.16
Dec 2018	1,057.90
Jan 2019	731.13
Feb 2019	927.24
Mar 2019	836.35
Apr 2019	700.37
May 2019	668.28
Jun 2019	660.34
Jul 2019	790.38
Aug 2019	789.20
Sep 2019	694.96
Oct 2019	774.02
Nov 2019	815.91
Dec 2019	1,077.72
Jan 2020	766.59
Feb 2020	685.41
Mar 2020	331.89
Apr 2020	2.25
May 2020	3.44
Jun 2020	5.40
Jul 2020	3.53
Aug 2020	3.03
Sep 2020	3.72
Oct 2020	6.07
Nov 2020	7.57
Dec 2020	8.82
Jan 2021	7.99
Feb 2021	6.26
Mar 2021	8.32
Apr 2021	22.61
May 2021	36.19
Jun 2021	36.77
Jul 2021	18.72
Aug 2021	6.39
Sep 2021	4.43
Oct 2021	4.41
Nov 2021	20.86
Dec 2021	73.29
Jan 2022	60.76
Feb 2022	90.46
Mar 2022	170.25
Apr 2022	235.46
May 2022	231.48
Jun 2022	275.30
Jul 2022	325.68
Aug 2022	348.44
Sep 2022	371.85
Oct 2022	430.47
Nov 2022	505.24
Dec 2022	648.97
Jan 2023	412.41
Feb 2023	600.71
Mar 2023	613.34
Apr 2023	544.92
May 2023	512.33
Jun 2023	542.08
Jul 2023	625.12
Aug 2023	603.36
Sep 2023	584.62
Oct 2023	607.93
Nov 2023	663.76
Dec 2023	876.86
Jan 2024	603.77
Feb 2024	857.95
Mar 2024	761.05
Apr 2024	593.09
May 2024	600.78
Jun 2024	587.76
Jul 2024	658.97
Aug 2024	658.81
Sep 2024	630.70
Oct 2024	677.41
Nov 2024	695.36
Dec 2024	945.28
Jan 2025	710.04
Feb 2025	787.77
Mar 2025	761.23
Apr 2025	641.15
May 2025	611.18
Jun 2025	624.51
Jul 2025	743.21
Aug 2025	753.32
Sep 2025	696.50
Oct 2025	740.65
Nov 2025	831.17
Dec 2025	1,036.66
Jan 2026	716.68
Feb 2026	943.22
Mar 2026	818.99
Apr 2026	644.77
May 2026	609.04

2.1 Short-term visitor arrivals

["","Short-term visitor arrivals, Australia"]

[["May 2016","Jun 2016","Jul 2016","Aug 2016","Sep 2016","Oct 2016","Nov 2016","Dec 2016","Jan 2017","Feb 2017","Mar 2017","Apr 2017","May 2017","Jun 2017","Jul 2017","Aug 2017","Sep 2017","Oct 2017","Nov 2017","Dec 2017","Jan 2018","Feb 2018","Mar 2018","Apr 2018","May 2018","Jun 2018","Jul 2018","Aug 2018","Sep 2018","Oct 2018","Nov 2018","Dec 2018","Jan 2019","Feb 2019","Mar 2019","Apr 2019","May 2019","Jun 2019","Jul 2019","Aug 2019","Sep 2019","Oct 2019","Nov 2019","Dec 2019","Jan 2020","Feb 2020","Mar 2020","Apr 2020","May 2020","Jun 2020","Jul 2020","Aug 2020","Sep 2020","Oct 2020","Nov 2020","Dec 2020","Jan 2021","Feb 2021","Mar 2021","Apr 2021","May 2021","Jun 2021","Jul 2021","Aug 2021","Sep 2021","Oct 2021","Nov 2021","Dec 2021","Jan 2022","Feb 2022","Mar 2022","Apr 2022","May 2022","Jun 2022","Jul 2022","Aug 2022","Sep 2022","Oct 2022","Nov 2022","Dec 2022","Jan 2023","Feb 2023","Mar 2023","Apr 2023","May 2023","Jun 2023","Jul 2023","Aug 2023","Sep 2023","Oct 2023","Nov 2023","Dec 2023","Jan 2024","Feb 2024","Mar 2024","Apr 2024","May 2024","Jun 2024","Jul 2024","Aug 2024","Sep 2024","Oct 2024","Nov 2024","Dec 2024","Jan 2025","Feb 2025","Mar 2025","Apr 2025","May 2025","Jun 2025","Jul 2025","Aug 2025","Sep 2025","Oct 2025","Nov 2025","Dec 2025","Jan 2026","Feb 2026","Mar 2026","Apr 2026","May 2026"],[[541.28],[555.07],[715.78],[632.14],[647.04],[695.92],[721.83],[976.15],[723.99],[787.58],[772.23],[700.01],[579.09],[606.01],[746.41],[702.9],[663.59],[741.36],[777.09],[1015.04],[702.58],[914.53],[872.35],[679.78],[609.45],[646.65],[774.36],[741.71],[690.19],[753.96],[802.16],[1057.9],[731.13],[927.24],[836.35],[700.37],[668.28],[660.34],[790.38],[789.2],[694.96],[774.02],[815.91],[1077.72],[766.59],[685.41],[331.89],[2.25],[3.44],[5.4],[3.53],[3.03],[3.72],[6.07],[7.57],[8.82],[7.99],[6.26],[8.32],[22.61],[36.19],[36.77],[18.72],[6.39],[4.43],[4.41],[20.86],[73.29],[60.76],[90.46],[170.25],[235.46],[231.48],[275.3],[325.68],[348.44],[371.85],[430.47],[505.24],[648.97],[412.41],[600.71],[613.34],[544.92],[512.33],[542.08],[625.12],[603.36],[584.62],[607.93],[663.76],[876.86],[603.77],[857.95],[761.05],[593.09],[600.78],[587.76],[658.97],[658.81],[630.7],[677.41],[695.36],[945.28],[710.04],[787.77],[761.23],[641.15],[611.18],[624.51],[743.21],[753.32],[696.5],[740.65],[831.17],[1036.66],[716.68],[943.22],[818.99],[644.77],[609.04]]]

[]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":"24","precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"Thousands","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"('000)","table_units":"('000)","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":null,"precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Countries where visitors came from

The three leading source countries where visitors came from were:

New Zealand (111,120 trips)
China (69,940)
Singapore (48,510).

2.2 Short-term visitor arrivals, Australia - top 10 source countries(a)
Country of Residence	May 2019	May 2024	May 2025	May 2026
New Zealand	117,520	116,950	117,250	111,120
China(b)	94,690	55,130	67,350	69,940
Singapore	41,610	47,710	43,100	48,510
USA	56,410	43,980	42,360	44,550
India	40,550	44,580	47,940	38,960
Japan	27,960	23,010	23,220	28,170
UK	29,980	27,870	30,760	27,780
Korea, South	18,830	26,980	24,140	25,300
Malaysia	41,860	22,240	20,880	25,240
Philippines	16,160	14,880	17,790	18,150

2.2 Short-term visitor arrivals, Australia - top 10 source countries(a)

["Country of Residence","May 2019","May 2024","May 2025","May 2026"]

[["New Zealand","China(b)","Singapore","USA","India","Japan","UK","Korea, South","Malaysia","Philippines"],[[117520],[94690],[41610],[56410],[40550],[27960],[29980],[18830],[41860],[16160]],[[116950],[55130],[47710],[43980],[44580],[23010],[27870],[26980],[22240],[14880]],[[117250],[67350],[43100],[42360],[47940],[23220],[30760],[24140],[20880],[17790]],[[111120],[69940],[48510],[44550],[38960],[28170],[27780],[25300],[25240],[18150]]]

[]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":"1","precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":"25000","precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Top 10 source countries for May 2026.
Excludes SARs and Taiwan.

State or territory of stay

All travellers are asked their intended address in Australia upon arrival. For May 2026:

The highest number of visitor arrivals for short-term trips was observed for New South Wales (225,350)
Tasmania recorded the fewest (5,330).

2.3 Short-term visitor arrivals, state or territory of stay - May 2026

This map presents the number of short-term visitor arrivals in Australia in May 2026, by their state of intended stay.

2.4 Short-term visitor arrivals, state or territory of stay
State or territory of stay	May 2019 (no.)	May 2024 (no.)	May 2025 (no.)	May 2026 (no.)	May 2025 to May 2026 change (%)
NSW	251,990	224,370	227,360	225,350	-0.9
Vic.	176,510	155,240	151,600	149,370	-1.5
Qld	144,290	122,910	129,320	132,090	2.1
SA	17,540	15,590	18,610	16,730	-10.1
WA	61,100	65,820	67,990	68,920	1.4
Tas.	4,640	5,060	5,320	5,330	0.1
NT	6,060	4,540	4,840	5,450	12.8
ACT	6,140	7,230	6,120	5,760	-5.8
Australia(a)	668,280	600,780	611,180	609,040	-0.4

Includes Other Territories.

Countries where visitors came from - state and territory

The top source countries varied across states and territories, and also differed from those at the national level.

State and territory graphs - top 10 source countries

2.5 Short-term visitor arrivals, NSW - top 10 source countries(a)
Country of Residence	May 2019	May 2024	May 2025	May 2026
China(b)	43,040	28,440	34,720	34,830
New Zealand	35,920	35,630	34,480	31,840
USA	30,150	21,780	22,110	21,750
Korea, South	12,090	19,190	16,760	18,000
India	13,010	14,520	14,800	12,530
Singapore	11,390	10,760	8,970	10,950
Japan	8,750	7,630	8,530	9,930
UK	11,440	10,390	11,080	9,920
Philippines	7,510	6,100	7,390	7,630
Hong Kong	8,760	6,780	6,350	6,610

2.6 Short-term visitor arrivals, Vic - top 10 source countries(a)
Country of Residence	May 2019	May 2024	May 2025	May 2026
New Zealand	27,130	26,510	24,740	22,630
China(b)	30,580	16,520	20,220	22,040
India	16,140	18,300	19,460	16,060
Singapore	11,780	13,610	11,470	12,930
USA	10,980	9,090	7,780	8,270
Malaysia	16,500	7,370	7,050	8,260
Indonesia	7,580	6,320	5,370	5,830
Hong Kong	5,780	5,090	5,610	5,660
UK	5,650	5,990	6,010	5,180
Philippines	4,160	4,140	5,080	5,040

2.7 Short-term visitor arrivals, Qld - top 10 source countries(a)
Country of Residence	May 2019	May 2024	May 2025	May 2026
New Zealand	45,450	44,540	47,030	45,620
Japan	11,420	9,420	8,960	11,370
USA	9,590	7,400	6,910	8,620
China(b)	12,900	5,090	6,480	6,840
UK	6,580	5,650	6,500	6,320
Singapore	5,500	4,600	4,240	5,490
Taiwan	5,970	4,910	4,390	4,090
India	5,910	5,210	5,910	3,970
Korea, South	3,360	4,050	3,780	3,930
PNG	2,820	2,900	3,160	2,740

2.8 Short-term visitor arrivals, SA - top 10 source countries(a)
Country of Residence	May 2019	May 2024	May 2025	May 2026
New Zealand	2,380	2,280	2,760	2,270
India	1,580	1,930	2,850	2,180
China(b)	2,730	1,650	1,770	1,740
USA	1,230	1,150	1,200	1,350
Singapore	1,060	740	1,220	1,260
UK	810	820	940	790
Philippines	500	390	480	640
Malaysia	900	590	900	590
Hong Kong	820	530	730	500
Indonesia	370	560	420	450

2.9 Short-term visitor arrivals, WA - top 10 source countries(a)
Country of Residence	May 2019	May 2024	May 2025	May 2026
Singapore	10,600	16,790	15,710	16,380
Malaysia	11,190	8,080	7,280	8,940
New Zealand	5,040	5,440	6,140	6,210
UK	4,460	4,220	5,420	4,860
China(b)	3,770	2,240	2,980	3,360
India	2,850	3,310	3,660	3,340
Indonesia	3,760	3,870	2,970	2,830
USA	2,710	2,360	2,270	2,100
France	930	1,690	1,630	1,880
Philippines	1,430	1,520	1,870	1,830

2.10 Short-term visitor arrivals, Tas - top 10 source countries(a)
Country of Residence	May 2019	May 2024	May 2025	May 2026
Singapore	570	750	1,020	950
New Zealand	480	520	820	850
China(b)	630	380	340	470
Hong Kong	730	350	470	460
USA	290	580	330	430
Malaysia	390	180	250	340
Nepal	70	210	110	230
Taiwan	90	110	100	170
India	190	170	310	160
UK	110	250	150	150

2.11 Short-term visitor arrivals, NT - top 10 source countries(a)
Country of Residence	May 2019	May 2024	May 2025	May 2026
USA	850	800	950	1,130
New Zealand	430	860	410	850
Singapore	380	280	250	370
UK	600	260	320	370
India	200	220	200	230
France	250	110	210	230
Indonesia	300	250	280	210
China(b)	240	60	170	160
Germany	230	190	120	140
Nepal	80	60	170	130

2.12 Short-term visitor arrivals, ACT - top 10 source countries(a)
Country of Residence	May 2019	May 2024	May 2025	May 2026
USA	610	840	820	900
New Zealand	700	1,180	850	840
China(b)	800	760	670	510
India	660	930	750	470
Japan	310	120	130	290
Indonesia	160	180	130	220
Nepal	40	280	270	220
Philippines	190	250	210	210
UK	330	290	320	190
Singapore	330	170	220	160

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 short-term overseas trips in May 2026:

A total of 922,460 trips were recorded, a decrease of 47,600 (4.9%) compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.
The number of trips was 6.5% higher than the pre-COVID level in May 2019.
Indonesia was the most popular destination country, accounting for 16.6% of all resident returns.

3.1 Short-term resident returns
	Short-term resident returns, Australia ('000)
May 2016	719.28
Jun 2016	721.85
Jul 2016	1,024.59
Aug 2016	822.32
Sep 2016	883.76
Oct 2016	1,024.64
Nov 2016	738.73
Dec 2016	680.56
Jan 2017	1,260.36
Feb 2017	738.70
Mar 2017	690.43
Apr 2017	893.92
May 2017	775.96
Jun 2017	763.18
Jul 2017	1,070.74
Aug 2017	863.23
Sep 2017	946.17
Oct 2017	1,078.68
Nov 2017	773.11
Dec 2017	680.77
Jan 2018	1,336.96
Feb 2018	709.02
Mar 2018	740.73
Apr 2018	929.04
May 2018	822.24
Jun 2018	808.71
Jul 2018	1,133.60
Aug 2018	916.20
Sep 2018	973.97
Oct 2018	1,147.82
Nov 2018	810.32
Dec 2018	732.81
Jan 2019	1,392.85
Feb 2019	746.08
Mar 2019	753.51
Apr 2019	916.43
May 2019	866.28
Jun 2019	841.95
Jul 2019	1,122.59
Aug 2019	930.97
Sep 2019	992.82
Oct 2019	1,145.97
Nov 2019	849.79
Dec 2019	749.66
Jan 2020	1,397.42
Feb 2020	785.39
Mar 2020	538.36
Apr 2020	17.05
May 2020	13.38
Jun 2020	15.76
Jul 2020	10.28
Aug 2020	8.07
Sep 2020	8.17
Oct 2020	11.17
Nov 2020	13.00
Dec 2020	14.30
Jan 2021	11.35
Feb 2021	8.39
Mar 2021	9.25
Apr 2021	16.99
May 2021	62.36
Jun 2021	50.49
Jul 2021	41.83
Aug 2021	10.31
Sep 2021	6.04
Oct 2021	5.07
Nov 2021	25.91
Dec 2021	52.83
Jan 2022	151.57
Feb 2022	116.86
Mar 2022	146.34
Apr 2022	282.63
May 2022	360.61
Jun 2022	390.89
Jul 2022	671.04
Aug 2022	607.95
Sep 2022	633.79
Oct 2022	721.86
Nov 2022	612.12
Dec 2022	529.98
Jan 2023	1,097.90
Feb 2023	639.58
Mar 2023	635.73
Apr 2023	750.17
May 2023	707.44
Jun 2023	729.54
Jul 2023	995.58
Aug 2023	858.54
Sep 2023	939.06
Oct 2023	1,061.34
Nov 2023	820.76
Dec 2023	739.60
Jan 2024	1,392.89
Feb 2024	775.63
Mar 2024	767.11
Apr 2024	964.31
May 2024	807.92
Jun 2024	863.95
Jul 2024	1,146.34
Aug 2024	916.89
Sep 2024	1,020.96
Oct 2024	1,184.90
Nov 2024	931.99
Dec 2024	823.00
Jan 2025	1,544.89
Feb 2025	923.36
Mar 2025	840.08
Apr 2025	1,044.53
May 2025	970.06
Jun 2025	914.08
Jul 2025	1,205.17
Aug 2025	972.07
Sep 2025	1,050.09
Oct 2025	1,278.23
Nov 2025	937.32
Dec 2025	869.41
Jan 2026	1,665.10
Feb 2026	891.46
Mar 2026	910.45
Apr 2026	1,092.38
May 2026	922.46

3.1 Short-term resident returns

["","Short-term resident returns, Australia"]

[["May 2016","Jun 2016","Jul 2016","Aug 2016","Sep 2016","Oct 2016","Nov 2016","Dec 2016","Jan 2017","Feb 2017","Mar 2017","Apr 2017","May 2017","Jun 2017","Jul 2017","Aug 2017","Sep 2017","Oct 2017","Nov 2017","Dec 2017","Jan 2018","Feb 2018","Mar 2018","Apr 2018","May 2018","Jun 2018","Jul 2018","Aug 2018","Sep 2018","Oct 2018","Nov 2018","Dec 2018","Jan 2019","Feb 2019","Mar 2019","Apr 2019","May 2019","Jun 2019","Jul 2019","Aug 2019","Sep 2019","Oct 2019","Nov 2019","Dec 2019","Jan 2020","Feb 2020","Mar 2020","Apr 2020","May 2020","Jun 2020","Jul 2020","Aug 2020","Sep 2020","Oct 2020","Nov 2020","Dec 2020","Jan 2021","Feb 2021","Mar 2021","Apr 2021","May 2021","Jun 2021","Jul 2021","Aug 2021","Sep 2021","Oct 2021","Nov 2021","Dec 2021","Jan 2022","Feb 2022","Mar 2022","Apr 2022","May 2022","Jun 2022","Jul 2022","Aug 2022","Sep 2022","Oct 2022","Nov 2022","Dec 2022","Jan 2023","Feb 2023","Mar 2023","Apr 2023","May 2023","Jun 2023","Jul 2023","Aug 2023","Sep 2023","Oct 2023","Nov 2023","Dec 2023","Jan 2024","Feb 2024","Mar 2024","Apr 2024","May 2024","Jun 2024","Jul 2024","Aug 2024","Sep 2024","Oct 2024","Nov 2024","Dec 2024","Jan 2025","Feb 2025","Mar 2025","Apr 2025","May 2025","Jun 2025","Jul 2025","Aug 2025","Sep 2025","Oct 2025","Nov 2025","Dec 2025","Jan 2026","Feb 2026","Mar 2026","Apr 2026","May 2026"],[[719.28],[721.85],[1024.59],[822.32],[883.76],[1024.64],[738.73],[680.56],[1260.36],[738.7],[690.43],[893.92],[775.96],[763.18],[1070.74],[863.23],[946.17],[1078.68],[773.11],[680.77],[1336.96],[709.02],[740.73],[929.04],[822.24],[808.71],[1133.6],[916.2],[973.97],[1147.82],[810.32],[732.81],[1392.85],[746.08],[753.51],[916.43],[866.28],[841.95],[1122.59],[930.97],[992.82],[1145.97],[849.79],[749.66],[1397.42],[785.39],[538.36],[17.05],[13.38],[15.76],[10.28],[8.07],[8.17],[11.17],[13],[14.3],[11.35],[8.39],[9.25],[16.99],[62.36],[50.49],[41.83],[10.31],[6.04],[5.07],[25.91],[52.83],[151.57],[116.86],[146.34],[282.63],[360.61],[390.89],[671.04],[607.95],[633.79],[721.86],[612.12],[529.98],[1097.9],[639.58],[635.73],[750.17],[707.44],[729.54],[995.58],[858.54],[939.06],[1061.34],[820.76],[739.6],[1392.89],[775.63],[767.11],[964.31],[807.92],[863.95],[1146.34],[916.89],[1020.96],[1184.9],[931.99],[823],[1544.89],[923.36],[840.08],[1044.53],[970.06],[914.08],[1205.17],[972.07],[1050.09],[1278.23],[937.32],[869.41],[1665.1],[891.46],[910.45],[1092.38],[922.46]]]

[]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":"24","precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"Thousands","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"('000)","table_units":"('000)","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":null,"precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Destination countries

The three leading destination countries residents returned from were:

Indonesia (153,220 trips)
New Zealand (94,680)
Japan (78,270).

3.2 Short-term resident returns, Australia - top 10 destination countries(a)
Country of Stay	May 2019	May 2024	May 2025	May 2026
Indonesia	113,280	127,650	149,080	153,220
New Zealand	90,190	78,060	83,020	94,680
Japan	41,660	59,200	82,920	78,270
China(b)	59,550	41,100	61,380	60,730
USA	94,990	64,210	69,370	57,800
Vietnam	25,350	29,960	40,090	48,960
Thailand	47,490	41,620	51,610	47,630
UK	47,810	44,280	47,880	36,850
Fiji	28,430	32,080	35,830	36,830
India	28,390	29,060	38,650	33,570

3.2 Short-term resident returns, Australia - top 10 destination countries(a)

["Country of Stay","May 2019","May 2024","May 2025","May 2026"]

[["Indonesia","New Zealand","Japan","China(b)","USA","Vietnam","Thailand","UK","Fiji","India"],[[113280],[90190],[41660],[59550],[94990],[25350],[47490],[47810],[28430],[28390]],[[127650],[78060],[59200],[41100],[64210],[29960],[41620],[44280],[32080],[29060]],[[149080],[83020],[82920],[61380],[69370],[40090],[51610],[47880],[35830],[38650]],[[153220],[94680],[78270],[60730],[57800],[48960],[47630],[36850],[36830],[33570]]]

[]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":null,"tick_interval":"1","precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

[{"value":"0","axis_id":"0","axis_title":"","axis_units":"","tooltip_units":"","table_units":"","axis_min":null,"axis_max":"160000","tick_interval":"40000","precision":"-1","data_unit_prefix":"","data_unit_suffix":"","reverse_axis":false}]

Top 10 destination countries for May 2026.
Excludes SARs and Taiwan.

State or territory of residence

All travellers are asked their intended address in Australia upon arrival. For May 2026:

The highest number of resident returns from short-term trips was observed for New South Wales (289,830)
The Northern Territory recorded the fewest (5,680).

3.3 Short-term resident returns, state or territory of residence - May 2026

This map presents the number of short-term resident returns in Australia in May 2026, by their state of intended residence.

3.4 Short-term resident returns, state or territory of residence
State or territory of residence	May 2019 (no.)	May 2024 (no.)	May 2025 (no.)	May 2026 (no.)	May 2025 to May 2026 change (%)
NSW	297,130	276,710	312,120	289,830	-7.1
Vic.	228,810	209,020	259,970	245,760	-5.5
Qld	159,790	154,330	187,710	186,460	-0.7
SA	42,570	39,760	45,380	44,500	-1.9
WA	104,320	98,850	129,580	122,570	-5.4
Tas.	10,440	8,670	10,620	13,710	29.1
NT	6,970	5,930	7,060	5,680	-19.6
ACT	16,170	14,590	17,400	13,830	-20.5
Australia(a)	866,280	807,920	970,060	922,460	-4.9

Includes Other Territories.

In the April 2026 release, data downloads 11 and 12 were published without the March 2026 revisions. This has now been corrected, and the revisions are included in this release. For further details, please refer to the Methodology page under the History of Changes section for 2026.

Data downloads

Notes

The ABS encountered a technical issue that delayed the supply of linked Medicare data for March 2026, which is a secondary source for the state and territory of residence/stay variable. As a result, Overseas Arrivals and Departures data for March 2026 was revised and released in the April 2026 publication. For further information see Methodology page, in the History of changes section for the year 2026.
The ABS identified a data quality issue with OAD source data which affected the state or territory of residence and state or territory of stay data. As a result, Overseas Arrivals and Departures data for November 2024 was revised and released in the December 2024 publication. For further information see Methodology page, in the History of changes section for the year 2024.
Additional provisional data is available under the Data downloads for State of clearance (Table 13), Country of citizenship (Table 14), and Visa group (Tables 15 and 16). No further breakdowns of provisional data are available, other than those which appear in this release.
The ABS identified a data quality issue with OAD processing which affected the state of clearance and visa grouping data. As a result, Overseas Arrivals and Departures data from September 2007 to August 2015 was revised and released in the March 2023 publication. A further revision to data from July 2007 to June 2017 was released in the April 2023 publication. For further information see Methodology page, in the History of changes section for the year 2007.
Due to improvements made to the quality of the imputations used to estimate duration of stay, OAD data from January to March 2022 has been revised and released in the April 2022 issue. These imputations use historical data and have been impacted by changed travel behaviour during the COVID-19 travel restrictions period. For further information see Methodology page in the History of changes section for the year 2022.
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 from July 2021 to February 2022 was revised and released in the March 2022 issue. For further information see Methodology page in the History of changes section for the year 2022.
For all Short-term Visitor Arrivals (STVA) and Short-term Resident Returns (STRR) series, the trend estimates have been suspended from February 2020 and the seasonally adjusted estimates have been suspended from April 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international travel. For more information, see the Seasonally adjusted and trend estimates section under 'Processing the data' in the Methodology page associated with this release.
The quality of the imputation used to estimate duration of stay for some resident departures was impacted by changed travel behaviour during COVID-19 travel restrictions. The proportional split between short-term resident departures and long-term resident departures was impacted from April 2020 to December 2021. Where possible, instead of departure volumes, we recommend clients use short-term resident returns and long-term resident returns for greater accuracy. For more information on how this variable is imputed, please refer to the Imputations and derivations section of the Methodology page.
Occasionally situations occur that necessitate breaks being applied to the trend series. For an overview of the breaks currently included in the trend series, refer to the Seasonally adjusted and trend estimates section in the Methodology.
For further information about the data, including updates or changes, see the Methodology page.

Time series spreadsheets

Download all (3.08 MB)

Data files

Table 1: Total movement, arrivals - category of movement
Download xlsx [91.96 KB]
Table 2: Total movement, departures - category of movement
Download xlsx [81.58 KB]
Table 3: Short-term movement, visitors arriving - selected countries of residence: trend
Download xlsx [177.81 KB]
Table 4: Short-term movement, visitors arriving - selected countries of residence: seasonally adjusted
Download xlsx [182.91 KB]
Table 5: Short-term movement, visitors arriving - selected countries of residence: original
Download xlsx [221.01 KB]
Table 6: Short-term movement, visitors arriving - intended length of stay and main reason for journey: original
Download xlsx [96 KB]
Table 7: Short-term movement, residents returning - selected destinations: trend
Download xlsx [112.91 KB]
Table 8: Short-term movement, residents returning - selected destinations: seasonally adjusted
Download xlsx [114.82 KB]
Table 9: Short-term movement, residents returning - selected destinations: original
Download xlsx [147.04 KB]
Table 10: Short-term movements, residents returning - length of stay and main reason for journey: original
Download xlsx [72.4 KB]
Table 11: Short-term movement, visitors arriving - state of intended stay: original
Download xlsx [79.08 KB]
Table 12: Short-term movement, residents returning - state of residence: original
Download xlsx [65.6 KB]
Table 13: Total arrivals and total departures - state of residence/stay and state of clearance
Download xlsx [162.82 KB]
Table 14: Total arrivals and total departures - country of citizenship
Download xlsx [1.03 MB]
Table 15: Total arrivals - state of residence/stay by visa group
Download xlsx [326.4 KB]
Table 16: Total departures - state of residence/stay by visa group
Download xlsx [325.29 KB]

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 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 more information on these and related statistics, enquire via our 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.

Annual analysis articles

Compares annual international travel arrivals over time by source/destination country, state and territory, age and sex, main reason for journey and median duration of trip. All analysis in these articles is done on short-term trips (less than 1 year).

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

Overseas arrivals and departures, Australia - 2024-25 financial year

Methodology

Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia methodology, May 2026

Do you need more detailed statistics?

Request data

We can provide customised data to meet your requirements

Request a quote

Microdata and TableBuilder

We can provide access to detailed, customisable data on selected topics

View available Microdata and TableBuilder

APA

Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia

APA

Key statistics

Overseas migration statistics

Arrivals and departures

Visitor arrivals - short-term

Countries where visitors came from

State or territory of stay

2.3 Short-term visitor arrivals, state or territory of stay - May 2026

Countries where visitors came from - state and territory

State and territory graphs - top 10 source countries

Resident returns - short-term

Destination countries

State or territory of residence

3.3 Short-term resident returns, state or territory of residence - May 2026

Data downloads

Notes

Time series spreadsheets

Table 1: Total movement, arrivals - category of movement

Table 2: Total movement, departures - category of movement

Table 3: Short-term movement, visitors arriving - selected countries of residence: trend

Table 4: Short-term movement, visitors arriving - selected countries of residence: seasonally adjusted

Table 5: Short-term movement, visitors arriving - selected countries of residence: original

Table 6: Short-term movement, visitors arriving - intended length of stay and main reason for journey: original

Table 7: Short-term movement, residents returning - selected destinations: trend

Table 8: Short-term movement, residents returning - selected destinations: seasonally adjusted

Table 9: Short-term movement, residents returning - selected destinations: original

Table 10: Short-term movements, residents returning - length of stay and main reason for journey: original

Table 11: Short-term movement, visitors arriving - state of intended stay: original

Table 12: Short-term movement, residents returning - state of residence: original

Table 13: Total arrivals and total departures - state of residence/stay and state of clearance

Table 14: Total arrivals and total departures - country of citizenship

Table 15: Total arrivals - state of residence/stay by visa group

Table 16: Total departures - state of residence/stay by visa group