Australia’s international travel increases

Media Release

Released

12/05/2022

Source

Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, March 2022

International travel is on the rise, with provisional data for April 2022 showing 1.2 million international border crossings to and from Australia, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The increase, up from 710,000 border crossings in March 2022, represented a large change from a year ago when there were only 118,000 movements. However, this was still only a third (34 per cent) of the pre-COVID travel seen in April 2019, when there were 3.5 million border crossings.

ABS Director of Migration Statistics, Jenny Dobak, said: “With international borders re-opening in February and the Easter long weekend and school holidays in April, we have seen an increase in arrivals and departures.

“There were 580,000 overseas arrivals and 610,000 overseas departures in April 2022, the largest number of travellers since the start of the pandemic.”

Total overseas arrivals and departures - March 2012 to April 2022(a)
	Arrivals (M)	Departures (M)
Mar 2012	1.16	1.21
Apr 2012	1.19	1.22
May 2012	1.01	1.11
Jun 2012	1.10	1.27
Jul 2012	1.43	1.19
Aug 2012	1.20	1.24
Sep 2012	1.25	1.30
Oct 2012	1.45	1.18
Nov 2012	1.22	1.25
Dec 2012	1.32	1.54
Jan 2013	1.58	1.32
Feb 2013	1.26	1.09
Mar 2013	1.24	1.29
Apr 2013	1.23	1.26
May 2013	1.10	1.20
Jun 2013	1.16	1.34
Jul 2013	1.51	1.30
Aug 2013	1.30	1.34
Sep 2013	1.33	1.38
Oct 2013	1.53	1.23
Nov 2013	1.28	1.30
Dec 2013	1.42	1.68
Jan 2014	1.74	1.47
Feb 2014	1.34	1.18
Mar 2014	1.28	1.30
Apr 2014	1.33	1.41
May 2014	1.19	1.27
Jun 2014	1.18	1.42
Jul 2014	1.59	1.34
Aug 2014	1.36	1.43
Sep 2014	1.38	1.41
Oct 2014	1.57	1.30
Nov 2014	1.34	1.36
Dec 2014	1.46	1.71
Jan 2015	1.78	1.49
Feb 2015	1.42	1.24
Mar 2015	1.39	1.45
Apr 2015	1.37	1.41
May 2015	1.22	1.31
Jun 2015	1.23	1.46
Jul 2015	1.65	1.43
Aug 2015	1.42	1.45
Sep 2015	1.46	1.48
Oct 2015	1.65	1.40
Nov 2015	1.42	1.44
Dec 2015	1.58	1.85
Jan 2016	1.91	1.64
Feb 2016	1.56	1.37
Mar 2016	1.48	1.54
Apr 2016	1.47	1.49
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	0.58	0.61

Total overseas arrivals and departures - March 2012 to April 2022(a)

["","Arrivals (M)","Departures (M)"]

[["Mar 2012","Apr 2012","May 2012","Jun 2012","Jul 2012","Aug 2012","Sep 2012","Oct 2012","Nov 2012","Dec 2012","Jan 2013","Feb 2013","Mar 2013","Apr 2013","May 2013","Jun 2013","Jul 2013","Aug 2013","Sep 2013","Oct 2013","Nov 2013","Dec 2013","Jan 2014","Feb 2014","Mar 2014","Apr 2014","May 2014","Jun 2014","Jul 2014","Aug 2014","Sep 2014","Oct 2014","Nov 2014","Dec 2014","Jan 2015","Feb 2015","Mar 2015","Apr 2015","May 2015","Jun 2015","Jul 2015","Aug 2015","Sep 2015","Oct 2015","Nov 2015","Dec 2015","Jan 2016","Feb 2016","Mar 2016","Apr 2016","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"],[[1.1599999999999999],[1.1899999999999999],[1.01],[1.1000000000000001],[1.4299999999999999],[1.2],[1.25],[1.45],[1.22],[1.3200000000000001],[1.5800000000000001],[1.26],[1.24],[1.23],[1.1000000000000001],[1.1599999999999999],[1.51],[1.3],[1.3300000000000001],[1.53],[1.28],[1.4199999999999999],[1.74],[1.3400000000000001],[1.28],[1.3300000000000001],[1.1899999999999999],[1.1799999999999999],[1.5900000000000001],[1.3600000000000001],[1.3799999999999999],[1.5700000000000001],[1.3400000000000001],[1.46],[1.78],[1.4199999999999999],[1.3899999999999999],[1.3700000000000001],[1.22],[1.23],[1.6499999999999999],[1.4199999999999999],[1.46],[1.6499999999999999],[1.4199999999999999],[1.5800000000000001],[1.9099999999999999],[1.5600000000000001],[1.48],[1.47],[1.3],[1.3300000000000001],[1.8300000000000001],[1.51],[1.5900000000000001],[1.78],[1.51],[1.72],[2.0699999999999998],[1.6299999999999999],[1.52],[1.6499999999999999],[1.3999999999999999],[1.4199999999999999],[1.9099999999999999],[1.6200000000000001],[1.6699999999999999],[1.8799999999999999],[1.6000000000000001],[1.76],[2.1299999999999999],[1.73],[1.6799999999999999],[1.6699999999999999],[1.48],[1.51],[2.0099999999999998],[1.72],[1.72],[1.96],[1.6699999999999999],[1.8500000000000001],[2.2200000000000002],[1.79],[1.6599999999999999],[1.6699999999999999],[1.5900000000000001],[1.5600000000000001],[2.0099999999999998],[1.78],[1.75],[1.98],[1.72],[1.8899999999999999],[2.2599999999999998],[1.5700000000000001],[0.92000000000000004],[0.02],[0.02],[0.029999999999999999],[0.02],[0.01],[0.02],[0.02],[0.029999999999999999],[0.029999999999999999],[0.029999999999999999],[0.029999999999999999],[0.029999999999999999],[0.050000000000000003],[0.11],[0.10000000000000001],[0.070000000000000007],[0.029999999999999999],[0.02],[0.02],[0.070000000000000007],[0.20000000000000001],[0.27000000000000002],[0.27000000000000002],[0.37],[0.57999999999999996]],[[1.21],[1.22],[1.1100000000000001],[1.27],[1.1899999999999999],[1.24],[1.3],[1.1799999999999999],[1.25],[1.54],[1.3200000000000001],[1.0900000000000001],[1.29],[1.26],[1.2],[1.3400000000000001],[1.3],[1.3400000000000001],[1.3799999999999999],[1.23],[1.3],[1.6799999999999999],[1.47],[1.1799999999999999],[1.3],[1.4099999999999999],[1.27],[1.4199999999999999],[1.3400000000000001],[1.4299999999999999],[1.4099999999999999],[1.3],[1.3600000000000001],[1.71],[1.49],[1.24],[1.45],[1.4099999999999999],[1.3100000000000001],[1.46],[1.4299999999999999],[1.45],[1.48],[1.3999999999999999],[1.4399999999999999],[1.8500000000000001],[1.6399999999999999],[1.3700000000000001],[1.54],[1.49],[1.3899999999999999],[1.5800000000000001],[1.5700000000000001],[1.55],[1.6000000000000001],[1.5],[1.54],[1.99],[1.78],[1.3899999999999999],[1.5800000000000001],[1.71],[1.49],[1.6699999999999999],[1.6499999999999999],[1.6599999999999999],[1.7],[1.5700000000000001],[1.6399999999999999],[2.0800000000000001],[1.8100000000000001],[1.52],[1.74],[1.71],[1.5600000000000001],[1.79],[1.73],[1.77],[1.76],[1.6399999999999999],[1.72],[2.1800000000000002],[1.9099999999999999],[1.52],[1.6799999999999999],[1.8300000000000001],[1.6299999999999999],[1.8],[1.76],[1.8100000000000001],[1.8],[1.6799999999999999],[1.74],[2.2400000000000002],[1.97],[1.29],[0.82999999999999996],[0.059999999999999998],[0.029999999999999999],[0.040000000000000001],[0.059999999999999998],[0.059999999999999998],[0.050000000000000003],[0.050000000000000003],[0.040000000000000001],[0.050000000000000003],[0.040000000000000001],[0.029999999999999999],[0.029999999999999999],[0.059999999999999998],[0.11],[0.10000000000000001],[0.089999999999999997],[0.040000000000000001],[0.029999999999999999],[0.040000000000000001],[0.089999999999999997],[0.23000000000000001],[0.19],[0.17999999999999999],[0.34000000000000002],[0.60999999999999999]]]

[]

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(a) 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.

On 21 February 2022, remaining travel restrictions were removed and the Australian border opened to tourists and other international travellers. Detailed data available for March 2022 shows 162,000 visitors arriving in Australia for a short-term trip. The majority (63 per cent) indicated their main reason for travel was visiting friends or family.

The largest source country for short-term visitors arriving in March were from the UK (27,000), followed by New Zealand (19,000) and India (15,000).

The states with the highest number of visitors arriving for a short-term trip were New South Wales (59,000) and Victoria (45,000).

Short-term visitor arrivals, State or territory of stay - March 2022

Further details can be found in Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia – March 2022 (cat. no. 3401.0) available on the ABS website https://www.abs.gov.au

Media notes

Short-term trip has a duration of stay of less than 12 months.
Provisional data for April 2022 has limited variables available. It is revised and more variables become available in next month’s processing. More detailed data are currently available for March 2022.
Information on ABS products being produced to measure the impact of COVID-19 on Australia can be found on the ABS website.
When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
For media requests and interviews, contact the ABS Media Team via media@abs.gov.au (8.30am-5pm Mon-Fri).
Subscribe to our media release notification service to get notified of ABS media releases or publications upon their release.

APA

Citation

Australia’s international travel increases

APA

Citation

Short-term visitor arrivals, State or territory of stay - March 2022

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