New figures show Australian visitor arrivals surged over the past year — while migration data shows a record number of New Zealanders leaving.
Stats NZ said visitor arrivals from across the Tasman reached 1.48 million in the year ended September, up from 1.33m the year before.
Stats NZ said it was the second-highest number of Australian visitor arrivals after 2019, pre-pandemic.
"The increase in visitor numbers from Australia in the September 2025 year coincided with an increase in flights between Australia and New Zealand, and a Tourism New Zealand marketing campaign from early 2025 targeting the Australian market," Stats NZ international travel statistics spokesperson Bryan Downes said.
Overall, visitor arrivals were 3.43m for the year, an increase of 197,000 from the prior year.
Aside from Australia, the biggest increases were from the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan.
Record number of NZers leave the country, again
Stats NZ also released migration data, showing annual net migration gains were 12,400 in the year ended September, compared to a net gain of 42,400 in the same period last year.
For New Zealand citizens, the net migration loss was 46,400 in the September 2025 year, driven by a record departure of 72,700 New Zealanders — primarily to Australia.
Stats NZ said 26,300 New Zealand citizens arrived in the period.
Net migration gains for non-New Zealand citizens were 58,800, reflecting 112,600 arrivals and 53,800 departures.
For migrant arrivals the biggest groups were New Zealand citizens, followed by China, India and the Philippines.
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