Overseas trips by Kiwis broke records in Jan and for the full year to Jan.
New Zealand-resident traveller arrivals (those returning from short trips) reached 348,400 in Jan, an increase of 18,100 on Jan 2025.
It was a record for any month, exceeding the previous record of 345,100 in Jul 2018, says Stats NZ.
There were record return arrivals, for any month, from destinations including China (31,300), India (19,100), the Philippines (12,900), and Japan (12,000).
Stats NZ says the total number in Jan was 109% over that of the same month in 2019, before the pandemic. The biggest changes in Jan this year were in arrivals back from China (up 9500), Australia (up 1400), Philippines (up 1200) Japan (up 1100), India (up 1100).
The United States continues to face headwinds, with Kiwi Jan travel down by 3100 year-on-year.
. . . Annual Records
For the full year to Jan, 3.12 million Kiwis returned from overseas trips, an increase of 128,000 from the previous year and a record—exceeding the 3.11 million arrivals in Jan 2020.
The Jan full year figures show 67,000 more trips to Australia (to 1.3 million), nearly 30,000 more trips to China (to 176,000) and 15,000 to Japan (up to 93,000). The US was the hardest hit, falling 15,000 to 152,000 trips by Kiwis.
