3401.0 - Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, Jun 2014 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/08/2014   
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MEDIA RELEASE
114/2014
7 August 2014
Embargo: 11.30 am (Canberra Time)
Short-term visitor arrivals from China have more than tripled since 2003-04

Chinese residents made a record number of visits to Australia in the 2013-14 financial year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Short-term trips from China have grown from 234,000 in 2003-04 to 769,000 in 2013-14 (trend series).

Assistant Director of Demography, Neil Scott said, “Arrivals from China have more than tripled over the past ten years, making it the second most popular source country for visitors to Australia.

“Short-term arrivals from Asia make up approximately the same percentage of total arrivals in 2013-14 that they did in 2003-04. However, there have been large changes in the number of arrivals from particular Asian countries.

“Of countries in the top ten of the trend series, India has the highest growth rate over the past ten years, growing from 53,000 in 2003-04 to 184,000 in 2013-14. By contrast, arrivals from Japan have more than halved from 719,000 to 324,000.

“New Zealand remained the top source for overseas short-term visitor arrivals, with 1.2 million trips from across the Tasman in the last financial year. China is followed by the United Kingdom (647,000), the USA (529,000) and Singapore (367,000).

“These top 5 countries made up more than half of the total number of short-term visits in 2013-14.

“New South Wales remained the most popular destination for overseas visitors in 2013-14, claiming nearly 40 per cent of all short-term trips. It was followed by Victoria (23%) and Queensland (23%).

“The most frequently cited reason for journey was for a holiday, making up nearly half of all journeys, and the median amount of time people spent in Australia was 11 days.”

Further information can be found in Overseas Arrivals and Departures, June 2014 (cat. no. 3401.0) available for free from the ABS website (www.abs.gov.au).

Media Notes:

  • Short-term visitor arrivals are overseas visitors who intend to stay in Australia for less than 12 months.
  • Unless otherwise stated, figures in this Media Release are based on original series.
  • Please ensure when reporting on ABS data that you attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.

SHORT-TERM VISITOR ARRIVALS, Australia - Financial Years, Trend Series(a)
2003-2004
2013-2014
Trend
Trend
2003-04 to 2013-14
Source countries(b)
'000
Source countries(c)
'000
Trend % change
New Zealand
932.1
New Zealand
1 223.6
31.3
Japan
718.6
China
769.3
228.4
UK, CIs & IOM(d)
687.1
UK, CIs & IOM(d)
646.7
-5.9
United States of America
428.8
United States of America
528.6
23.3
Singapore
255.0
Singapore
367.1
44.0
China
234.3
Japan
323.7
-54.9
Korea, South
214.8
Malaysia
311.4
75.3
Malaysia
177.6
Hong Kong
202.5
50.1
Germany
140.5
Korea, South
201.1
-6.4
Hong Kong
134.9
India
183.8
246.0
Total
5 106.2
Total
6 657.7
30.4
(a) Data revised from July 2004 to December 2013. For information see Explanatory Notes 12 & 13.
(b) Top 10 source countries based on trend estimates for 2003-04.
(c) Top 10 source countries based on trend estimates for 2013-14.
(d) United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.