Aussie Overseas Travel Hits Pre-COVID Levels

International travel has continued its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of Australians returning from overseas trips rebounding to pre-COVID levels in 2023-24, according to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Jenny Dobak, ABS head of migration statistics said "The number of residents returning from short-term trips in 2023-24 was 32 per cent higher than in 2022-23, and reached 98% of the 2018-19 (pre-COVID) volume.

"The number of resident returns each month reached 100% of the pre-COVID (2019) volume in January 2024, for the first time since international travel restrictions were lifted. It has been above 100% of pre-COVID volumes in the following months, with the exception of May 2024."

Short-term resident returns, Australia - monthly comparisons to 2019 (pre-COVID)

	Monthly returns as percentage of same month from 2019 (pre-COVID) (%)
Jan-22	10.9
Feb-22	15.7
Mar-22	19.4
Apr-22	30.8
May-22	41.6
Jun-22	46.4
Jul-22	59.8
Aug-22	65.3
Sep-22	63.8
Oct-22	63.0
Nov-22	72.0
Dec-22	70.7
Jan-23	78.8
Feb-23	85.7
Mar-23	84.4
Apr-23	81.9
May-23	81.7
Jun-23	86.6
Jul-23	88.7
Aug-23	92.2
Sep-23	94.6
Oct-23	92.6
Nov-23	96.6
Dec-23	98.7
Jan-24	100.0
Feb-24	104.0
Mar-24	101.8
Apr-24	105.2
May-24	93.3
Jun-24	102.6

Indonesia continued to be the top travel destination country for Australian residents in 2023-24 with 1.5 million trips recorded, after taking the top spot for the first time on record in 2023.

"Holidays were the leading reason for travel to Indonesia in 2023-24, making up 87.1 per cent of travel there," Ms Dobak said.

"The growth in Australian resident trips to Indonesia outpaced the increase in trips to New Zealand by around four to one. New Zealand remains as the second most common travel destination with 1.3 million trips to the Land of the Long White Cloud in 2023-24."

The USA was the only country in the top five travel destinations where numbers were lower than 10 years ago, with a total of 714,300 trips, down from 970,230 trips in 2013-14.

Short-term resident returns, Australia - top 5 destination countries(a) - year ending - monthly

	Indonesia (M)	New Zealand (M)	USA (M)	Japan (M)	UK (M)
Jun-14	1.02	1.19	0.97	0.22	0.56
Jul-14	1.02	1.19	0.97	0.22	0.57
Aug-14	1.04	1.19	0.97	0.22	0.57
Sep-14	1.06	1.19	0.96	0.23	0.57
Oct-14	1.07	1.19	0.96	0.24	0.57
Nov-14	1.08	1.19	0.97	0.24	0.57
Dec-14	1.09	1.19	0.97	0.24	0.56
Jan-15	1.10	1.20	0.98	0.25	0.57
Feb-15	1.10	1.21	0.99	0.26	0.57
Mar-15	1.11	1.21	1.00	0.26	0.57
Apr-15	1.11	1.21	1.00	0.26	0.57
May-15	1.12	1.22	1.00	0.27	0.57
Jun-15	1.13	1.22	1.00	0.27	0.57
Jul-15	1.12	1.23	1.01	0.27	0.58
Aug-15	1.11	1.23	1.01	0.28	0.58
Sep-15	1.11	1.24	1.02	0.28	0.58
Oct-15	1.11	1.25	1.03	0.28	0.59
Nov-15	1.09	1.25	1.03	0.29	0.60
Dec-15	1.09	1.26	1.03	0.30	0.60
Jan-16	1.11	1.26	1.04	0.31	0.60
Feb-16	1.12	1.27	1.04	0.31	0.60
Mar-16	1.12	1.28	1.04	0.32	0.60
Apr-16	1.12	1.29	1.05	0.33	0.60
May-16	1.13	1.29	1.06	0.33	0.60
Jun-16	1.15	1.29	1.06	0.33	0.60
Jul-16	1.18	1.30	1.07	0.34	0.60
Aug-16	1.20	1.31	1.07	0.34	0.59
Sep-16	1.20	1.31	1.07	0.34	0.59
Oct-16	1.21	1.33	1.07	0.35	0.58
Nov-16	1.24	1.33	1.08	0.35	0.58
Dec-16	1.24	1.34	1.08	0.35	0.59
Jan-17	1.23	1.36	1.08	0.36	0.59
Feb-17	1.23	1.36	1.08	0.36	0.60
Mar-17	1.23	1.37	1.09	0.36	0.60
Apr-17	1.23	1.39	1.08	0.37	0.60
May-17	1.23	1.40	1.08	0.38	0.61
Jun-17	1.22	1.41	1.09	0.38	0.61
Jul-17	1.22	1.42	1.09	0.38	0.61
Aug-17	1.22	1.42	1.09	0.38	0.62
Sep-17	1.21	1.43	1.09	0.38	0.62
Oct-17	1.21	1.43	1.09	0.39	0.63
Nov-17	1.20	1.44	1.08	0.39	0.63
Dec-17	1.18	1.44	1.07	0.39	0.63
Jan-18	1.18	1.43	1.07	0.41	0.63
Feb-18	1.18	1.43	1.07	0.41	0.63
Mar-18	1.19	1.43	1.07	0.42	0.63
Apr-18	1.19	1.42	1.07	0.43	0.63
May-18	1.21	1.42	1.08	0.43	0.64
Jun-18	1.21	1.42	1.08	0.44	0.64
Jul-18	1.22	1.42	1.08	0.45	0.65
Aug-18	1.22	1.42	1.08	0.45	0.65
Sep-18	1.22	1.42	1.08	0.45	0.65
Oct-18	1.24	1.42	1.09	0.45	0.66
Nov-18	1.26	1.43	1.09	0.46	0.66
Dec-18	1.28	1.44	1.09	0.46	0.66
Jan-19	1.29	1.44	1.09	0.47	0.67
Feb-19	1.29	1.44	1.09	0.48	0.67
Mar-19	1.29	1.44	1.09	0.47	0.67
Apr-19	1.30	1.44	1.08	0.47	0.67
May-19	1.30	1.44	1.08	0.48	0.67
Jun-19	1.31	1.44	1.08	0.48	0.67
Jul-19	1.33	1.44	1.08	0.49	0.67
Aug-19	1.35	1.45	1.08	0.49	0.67
Sep-19	1.36	1.46	1.07	0.49	0.67
Oct-19	1.38	1.46	1.06	0.51	0.66
Nov-19	1.39	1.46	1.06	0.52	0.67
Dec-19	1.40	1.46	1.06	0.52	0.66
Jan-20	1.42	1.47	1.04	0.52	0.67
Feb-20	1.43	1.48	1.05	0.53	0.67
Mar-20	1.41	1.44	1.04	0.52	0.67
Apr-20	1.30	1.31	0.96	0.47	0.64
May-20	1.19	1.22	0.86	0.42	0.59
Jun-20	1.08	1.14	0.78	0.39	0.53
Jul-20	0.93	1.02	0.68	0.36	0.44
Aug-20	0.80	0.91	0.59	0.34	0.36
Sep-20	0.67	0.80	0.50	0.31	0.29
Oct-20	0.53	0.68	0.38	0.25	0.21
Nov-20	0.41	0.56	0.30	0.21	0.18
Dec-20	0.31	0.44	0.24	0.17	0.15
Jan-21	0.17	0.24	0.12	0.09	0.07
Feb-21	0.08	0.12	0.06	0.03	0.04
Mar-21	0.00	0.02	0.01	0.00	0.01
Apr-21	0.00	0.03	0.01	0.00	0.01
May-21	0.00	0.08	0.01	0.00	0.01
Jun-21	0.00	0.12	0.01	0.00	0.01
Jul-21	0.00	0.16	0.01	0.00	0.01
Aug-21	0.00	0.16	0.01	0.00	0.01
Sep-21	0.00	0.16	0.01	0.00	0.01
Oct-21	0.00	0.16	0.01	0.00	0.01
Nov-21	0.00	0.16	0.01	0.00	0.01
Dec-21	0.00	0.16	0.02	0.00	0.01
Jan-22	0.00	0.16	0.04	0.00	0.03
Feb-22	0.00	0.16	0.05	0.00	0.04
Mar-22	0.00	0.17	0.07	0.00	0.05
Apr-22	0.02	0.19	0.10	0.01	0.07
May-22	0.04	0.18	0.13	0.01	0.10
Jun-22	0.09	0.20	0.17	0.01	0.13
Jul-22	0.18	0.26	0.22	0.02	0.20
Aug-22	0.27	0.34	0.27	0.02	0.25
Sep-22	0.36	0.43	0.32	0.02	0.31
Oct-22	0.46	0.52	0.38	0.03	0.36
Nov-22	0.54	0.62	0.43	0.05	0.39
Dec-22	0.61	0.71	0.46	0.07	0.42
Jan-23	0.73	0.89	0.52	0.12	0.47
Feb-23	0.80	0.99	0.54	0.16	0.48
Mar-23	0.89	1.08	0.56	0.19	0.49
Apr-23	0.98	1.16	0.58	0.25	0.50
May-23	1.06	1.18	0.60	0.28	0.51
Jun-23	1.13	1.20	0.61	0.31	0.54
Jul-23	1.18	1.20	0.62	0.34	0.56
Aug-23	1.22	1.21	0.62	0.36	0.57
Sep-23	1.26	1.23	0.64	0.39	0.58
Oct-23	1.30	1.24	0.65	0.44	0.59
Nov-23	1.34	1.25	0.66	0.48	0.60
Dec-23	1.37	1.26	0.67	0.51	0.60
Jan-24	1.41	1.26	0.67	0.57	0.60
Feb-24	1.43	1.27	0.68	0.60	0.61
Mar-24	1.45	1.28	0.69	0.63	0.61
Apr-24	1.48	1.29	0.70	0.66	0.61
May-24	1.50	1.30	0.71	0.68	0.61
Jun-24	1.53	1.31	0.71	0.70	0.62

Top 5 destination countries based on year ending June 2024.

Short-term visitor arrivals recovered to 85 per cent of the 2018-19 level, increasing in all states and territories over the year. Holiday was once again the leading reason for visiting Australia.

"China made a notable movement in the top five countries that short term visitors arrived from, becoming the second-most popular country for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic," Ms Dobak said.

"India was the fifth-most popular destination, however it was the only country in the top five to surpass its pre-COVID level."

Short-term visitor arrivals, Australia - top 5 source countries(a) - year ending - monthly

	New Zealand (M)	China(b) (M)	USA (M)	UK (M)	India (M)
Jun-14	1.23	0.77	0.54	0.67	0.19
Jul-14	1.23	0.78	0.54	0.67	0.19
Aug-14	1.23	0.80	0.54	0.67	0.19
Sep-14	1.23	0.80	0.55	0.67	0.19
Oct-14	1.24	0.82	0.55	0.67	0.20
Nov-14	1.25	0.84	0.56	0.67	0.20
Dec-14	1.24	0.85	0.56	0.66	0.20
Jan-15	1.25	0.83	0.56	0.66	0.20
Feb-15	1.25	0.89	0.57	0.66	0.21
Mar-15	1.26	0.90	0.58	0.67	0.22
Apr-15	1.26	0.91	0.58	0.66	0.22
May-15	1.26	0.93	0.58	0.67	0.22
Jun-15	1.27	0.94	0.58	0.67	0.22
Jul-15	1.28	0.95	0.59	0.67	0.23
Aug-15	1.29	0.96	0.59	0.67	0.23
Sep-15	1.30	0.97	0.59	0.67	0.23
Oct-15	1.30	0.99	0.60	0.67	0.23
Nov-15	1.31	1.01	0.60	0.68	0.23
Dec-15	1.31	1.03	0.62	0.69	0.24
Jan-16	1.32	1.07	0.63	0.69	0.24
Feb-16	1.32	1.08	0.63	0.70	0.23
Mar-16	1.32	1.10	0.64	0.70	0.23
Apr-16	1.32	1.13	0.65	0.70	0.24
May-16	1.32	1.14	0.66	0.70	0.24
Jun-16	1.33	1.15	0.66	0.70	0.24
Jul-16	1.33	1.17	0.68	0.71	0.25
Aug-16	1.33	1.18	0.69	0.71	0.25
Sep-16	1.34	1.18	0.69	0.71	0.25
Oct-16	1.34	1.19	0.70	0.71	0.26
Nov-16	1.34	1.20	0.71	0.71	0.26
Dec-16	1.35	1.21	0.72	0.72	0.26
Jan-17	1.34	1.26	0.72	0.72	0.26
Feb-17	1.35	1.23	0.73	0.72	0.27
Mar-17	1.35	1.24	0.73	0.72	0.27
Apr-17	1.35	1.24	0.75	0.73	0.27
May-17	1.35	1.25	0.75	0.73	0.28
Jun-17	1.35	1.26	0.76	0.73	0.28
Jul-17	1.35	1.29	0.76	0.72	0.28
Aug-17	1.36	1.31	0.76	0.72	0.29
Sep-17	1.35	1.33	0.76	0.72	0.29
Oct-17	1.36	1.34	0.77	0.72	0.29
Nov-17	1.36	1.34	0.78	0.73	0.30
Dec-17	1.36	1.36	0.78	0.73	0.30
Jan-18	1.36	1.31	0.79	0.74	0.31
Feb-18	1.36	1.39	0.80	0.73	0.31
Mar-18	1.37	1.40	0.80	0.75	0.32
Apr-18	1.36	1.41	0.79	0.74	0.32
May-18	1.37	1.42	0.79	0.74	0.33
Jun-18	1.37	1.42	0.79	0.74	0.33
Jul-18	1.37	1.43	0.79	0.74	0.34
Aug-18	1.38	1.43	0.78	0.74	0.34
Sep-18	1.38	1.43	0.78	0.74	0.35
Oct-18	1.38	1.43	0.78	0.75	0.35
Nov-18	1.38	1.43	0.78	0.74	0.35
Dec-18	1.38	1.43	0.79	0.73	0.36
Jan-19	1.39	1.46	0.79	0.73	0.36
Feb-19	1.40	1.44	0.79	0.73	0.36
Mar-19	1.39	1.44	0.80	0.71	0.36
Apr-19	1.40	1.42	0.80	0.72	0.36
May-19	1.41	1.43	0.81	0.72	0.37
Jun-19	1.41	1.43	0.81	0.72	0.37
Jul-19	1.41	1.43	0.82	0.72	0.38
Aug-19	1.41	1.44	0.82	0.72	0.38
Sep-19	1.41	1.44	0.82	0.71	0.39
Oct-19	1.41	1.44	0.82	0.71	0.39
Nov-19	1.42	1.44	0.82	0.72	0.39
Dec-19	1.43	1.44	0.82	0.72	0.40
Jan-20	1.44	1.45	0.82	0.71	0.40
Feb-20	1.43	1.27	0.82	0.71	0.40
Mar-20	1.37	1.17	0.76	0.68	0.39
Apr-20	1.25	1.07	0.70	0.62	0.36
May-20	1.14	0.98	0.64	0.59	0.32
Jun-20	1.03	0.90	0.58	0.56	0.28
Jul-20	0.90	0.75	0.52	0.52	0.26
Aug-20	0.77	0.62	0.47	0.49	0.23
Sep-20	0.64	0.52	0.42	0.45	0.19
Oct-20	0.50	0.42	0.36	0.39	0.17
Nov-20	0.38	0.32	0.29	0.32	0.13
Dec-20	0.24	0.21	0.19	0.20	0.08
Jan-21	0.15	0.05	0.12	0.13	0.06
Feb-21	0.06	0.03	0.04	0.05	0.02
Mar-21	0.01	0.00	0.01	0.01	0.00
Apr-21	0.03	0.00	0.01	0.01	0.00
May-21	0.06	0.00	0.01	0.01	0.00
Jun-21	0.08	0.00	0.01	0.01	0.00
Jul-21	0.10	0.00	0.01	0.01	0.00
Aug-21	0.10	0.00	0.01	0.01	0.00
Sep-21	0.10	0.00	0.01	0.01	0.00
Oct-21	0.10	0.00	0.01	0.01	0.00
Nov-21	0.10	0.00	0.01	0.01	0.01
Dec-21	0.10	0.01	0.02	0.02	0.01
Jan-22	0.10	0.01	0.02	0.03	0.02
Feb-22	0.10	0.02	0.03	0.04	0.03
Mar-22	0.12	0.02	0.04	0.07	0.05
Apr-22	0.14	0.03	0.06	0.10	0.07
May-22	0.16	0.03	0.08	0.12	0.11
Jun-22	0.19	0.04	0.10	0.13	0.13
Jul-22	0.26	0.05	0.13	0.16	0.16
Aug-22	0.33	0.06	0.15	0.18	0.19
Sep-22	0.42	0.06	0.18	0.21	0.21
Oct-22	0.51	0.07	0.22	0.26	0.24
Nov-22	0.60	0.08	0.27	0.31	0.28
Dec-22	0.70	0.09	0.33	0.40	0.30
Jan-23	0.76	0.10	0.37	0.44	0.32
Feb-23	0.83	0.13	0.43	0.50	0.34
Mar-23	0.91	0.15	0.48	0.55	0.36
Apr-23	0.98	0.18	0.51	0.56	0.37
May-23	1.03	0.21	0.53	0.57	0.38
Jun-23	1.08	0.24	0.56	0.57	0.38
Jul-23	1.12	0.31	0.59	0.58	0.39
Aug-23	1.15	0.36	0.61	0.59	0.38
Sep-23	1.19	0.41	0.62	0.59	0.39
Oct-23	1.22	0.45	0.63	0.59	0.38
Nov-23	1.24	0.48	0.64	0.60	0.39
Dec-23	1.27	0.54	0.66	0.60	0.40
Jan-24	1.30	0.59	0.67	0.60	0.40
Feb-24	1.33	0.70	0.69	0.61	0.41
Mar-24	1.35	0.73	0.71	0.61	0.41
Apr-24	1.35	0.76	0.71	0.61	0.41
May-24	1.37	0.78	0.71	0.61	0.41
Jun-24	1.37	0.80	0.71	0.62	0.42

Top 5 source countries based on year ending June 2024.
Excludes SARs and Taiwan.

/ABS Public Release. This material from the originating organization/author(s) might be of the point-in-time nature, and edited for clarity, style and length. Mirage.News does not take institutional positions or sides, and all views, positions, and conclusions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s).View in full here.

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