3401.0 - Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, Apr 2015 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 02/07/2015   
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MAIN FEATURES


SHORT-TERM VISITOR ARRIVALS

In trend terms, short-term visitor arrivals to Australia during April 2015 (611,900 movements) increased 0.8% when compared with March 2015 (606,900 movements). Currently, short-term visitor arrivals are 7.2% higher than in April 2014.

SHORT-TERM VISITOR ARRIVALS, Australia
Graph: short-term visitor arrivals, last ten years, Australia

The following table presents the top ten source countries (based on original estimates) for short-term visitor arrivals during April 2015. When trend estimates for short-term visitor arrivals for April 2014 and April 2015 were compared, the highest percentage increase was recorded for India (29.9%), followed by China (19.1%) and South Korea (17.2%). The highest percentage decrease was recorded for Japan (4.4%), followed by Malaysia (0.5%).

Short-term Visitor Arrivals, Australia - April 2015

Trend
Seasonally Adjusted
Original
Mar '15 to Apr '15
Apr '14 to Apr '15
Country of Residence(a)
'000
'000
'000
Trend % change
Trend % change

New Zealand
107.8
108.0
113.2
0.4
4.1
China
80.7
80.3
73.2
1.8
19.1
UK, CIs & IOM(b)
58.0
57.3
48.5
1.2
5.6
United States of America
49.2
48.7
42.2
0.0
8.8
Singapore
31.8
33.7
27.1
1.4
0.9
Malaysia
27.0
29.2
25.9
1.6
-0.5
India
20.6
19.7
20.1
1.7
29.9
Hong Kong
17.5
17.0
19.0
0.8
1.4
Japan
26.3
26.0
17.2
-0.7
-4.4
Korea, South
19.3
18.9
16.7
1.3
17.2

(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 are presented:
      1 The May 2015 seasonally adjusted estimate of visitor arrivals is 2.2% higher than April 2015.
      2 The May 2015 seasonally adjusted estimate of visitor arrivals is 2.2% lower than April 2015.
WHAT IF...? REVISIONS TO STVA TREND ESTIMATES, Australia
Graph: revisions to short-term visitor arrivals trend estimates, Australia


The figure of 2.2% 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 30 of the Explanatory Notes.


SHORT-TERM RESIDENT DEPARTURES

In trend terms, short-term resident departures from Australia during April 2015 (784,200 movements) increased 0.3% when compared with March 2015 (781,900 movements). Currently, short-term resident departures are 4.2% higher than in April 2014.

SHORT-TERM RESIDENT DEPARTURES, Australia
Graph: short-term resident departures, last ten years, Australia

The following table presents the top ten destination countries (based on original estimates) for short-term resident departures in April 2015. When trend estimates for short-term resident departures for April 2014 and April 2015 were compared, the highest percentage increase was recorded for Japan (23.4%), followed by China (7.6%), and Indonesia (7.0%). The highest percentage decrease was recorded for Malaysia (12.0%), followed by Thailand (7.1%), and Singapore (6.6%).


Short-term Resident Departures, Australia - April 2015

Trend
Seasonally Adjusted
Original
Mar '14 to Apr '15
Apr '14 to Apr '15
Country of Stay(a)
'000
'000
'000
Trend % change
Trend % change

New Zealand
105.7
105.9
102.8
0.2
6.6
Indonesia
94.6
92.9
85.0
0.4
7.0
United States of America
81.3
81.3
80.3
-1.2
5.8
Thailand
46.3
46.2
50.7
0.2
-7.1
UK, CIs & IOM(b)
45.2
44.1
42.4
-0.8
1.1
China
35.9
34.6
39.9
1.3
7.6
Singapore
30.2
30.1
30.0
-0.5
-6.6
Fiji
29.0
29.9
28.6
0.8
4.4
Japan
24.8
24.5
27.3
2.3
23.4
Malaysia
22.6
21.7
20.2
0.5
-12.0

(a) Top 10 destination 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 resident departures 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 resident departures are presented:
      1 The May 2015 seasonally adjusted estimate of resident departures is 2.4% higher than April 2015.
      2 The May 2015 seasonally adjusted estimate of resident departures is 2.4% lower than April 2015.
WHAT IF...? REVISIONS TO STRD TREND ESTIMATES, Australia
Graph: revisions to short-term resident departures trend estimates, Australia
The figure of 2.4% for resident departures represents the average absolute monthly percentage change for resident departures over the last ten years. For further information on the effect of new seasonally adjusted estimates on short-term resident departure trend estimates, see paragraph 30 of the Explanatory Notes.


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 year 2011, there were over 14 million multiple movements accounting for 46% of all movements (see paragraph 7 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); the Information Paper: Statistical Implications of Improved Methods for Estimating Net Overseas Migration, Australia, 2007 (cat. no. 3107.0.55.005); and the Technical Note: '12/16 month rule' Methodology for Calculating Net Overseas Migration from September quarter 2006 onwards in Migration, Australia (cat. no. 3412.0) under the Explanatory Notes tab.

There were 11,580 people who stated they were permanent (settler) arrivals to Australia during April 2015, an increase of 7.1% compared with April 2014 (10,810 movements). People born in India accounted for the largest proportion of settlers (16.5%), followed by people born in China (12.9%) and New Zealand (10.5%).

There were 7,740 Australian residents who stated their intention was to depart permanently from Australia during April 2015, an increase of 5.1% compared with April 2014 (7,360 movements). However, analysis shows that the majority of those with an intention of permanently departing, return to Australia within the following year. For example, in the calendar year 2011, out of the 84,240 Australian residents who stated they were departing permanently, only 15,890 spent 12 months or more overseas.


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 (under the Explanatory Notes tab) of this issue for more detail.