International travel: December 2020
International travel: December 2020
International travel covers the number and characteristics of overseas visitors and New Zealand resident travellers (short-term movements) entering or leaving New Zealand.
Impact of COVID-19 on international travel
Since January 2020, governments have imposed international travel restrictions in multiple countries, due to the spread of COVID-19 around the world. In March 2020, the New Zealand government introduced further measures to protect New Zealanders from the COVID-19 virus, effectively limiting travel to New Zealand and travel within New Zealand.
Key facts
Annual arrivals
In the December 2020 year compared with the December 2019 year, the number of overseas visitor arrivals was 996,400, down by 2.89 million.
The biggest changes were in overseas visitor arrivals from:
- Australia (down 1.18 million)
- China (down 348,600)
- United States (down 243,100)
- United Kingdom (down 137,500).
In the same period, the number of New Zealand-resident traveller arrivals was 681,900, down by 2.42 million.
The biggest changes were in New Zealand-resident traveller arrivals from:
- Australia (down 1.00 million)
- Fiji (down 164,400)
- United States (down 164,300)
- China (down 105,100)
- United Kingdom (down 103,500).
Monthly overseas visitor arrivals
Overseas visitor arrivals were down by 522,300 to 5,900 in December 2020, compared with December 2019.
In the nine months from April 2020 (the first full month under border restrictions) to December 2020 there were 37,300 visitor arrivals, down 2.66 million compared with the same nine months in 2019.
The main source countries of overseas visitors during these nine months were Australia, United Kingdom, United States, China, the Philippines, and India.
Overseas visitors are people who usually reside overseas and include both New Zealand citizens and non-New Zealand citizens.
Monthly New Zealand-resident traveller arrivals
The number of New Zealand residents returning from an overseas trip in December 2020 was down by 191,900 to 2,600, compared with December 2019.
In the nine months from April 2020 to December 2020, there were 28,300 New Zealand-resident arrivals, down 2.37 million compared with the same nine months in 2019. The main source countries were Australia, India, China, United Kingdom, and the United States.
In some months, New Zealand residents returned to New Zealand on repatriation flights, operating as part of the international response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Early and provisional international travel data
Each week, Stats NZ releases early and provisional international travel statistics - International travel (provisional) - to facilitate analysis of the COVID-19 international pandemic and the impact on New Zealand's inbound and outbound tourism sectors. This includes:
weekly travel data for short-term overseas visitor and New Zealand resident arrivals
arrivals and departures data based solely on border-crossings into and out of New Zealand
stock estimates of visitors in New Zealand, and New Zealand residents travelling overseas, based on arrivals and departures.
Provisional daily border crossing data are also being updated daily on the Stats NZ COVID-19 data portal.
Change to seasonal adjustment
Travel and border restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic have introduced sharp decreases to many international travel series. For series that are seasonally adjusted, these abrupt drops and sustained low levels pose challenges. Since the release of April 2020 data in June 2020, we have been suppressing the trend series (see International travel: March 2020 - Suspension of trend estimates) and ensuring COVID-19 effects do not influence the seasonal pattern.
As travel volumes look set to remain low for some time due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and as historical seasonal patterns are no longer evident, we are applying a split-adjustment approach to seasonally adjusted series. Months up to March 2020 are seasonally adjusted, and months from April 2020 (inclusive) reflect observed actual values without seasonal, trading day, or holiday adjustment. This approach will continue until an observable seasonal pattern returns to each series.
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