New Zealand recorded 3.74 million overseas visitor arrivals in the year to September 2026, an increase of 309,800, or 9 per cent, on the preceding 12 months.
Arrivals from Australia and China accounted for almost three-quarters of the increase. The Australian market remained the largest, with 1.61 million arrivals over the year, while arrivals from China reached 340,100.
The figures count journeys into the country, not necessarily different people. Someone who visited more than once during the period could appear in the total more than once. They also cover the 12 months ending in September, rather than the 2026 calendar year.
Australia and China lead the increase
Visitor arrivals from Australia rose by 123,500, or 8 per cent, compared with the year to September 2025. Arrivals from China increased by 94,100, or 38 per cent. Together, the two increases accounted for about seven in ten of the additional overseas visitor arrivals recorded across all markets.
There were also 390,100 arrivals from the United States, an increase of 9,200, or 2 per cent, on the previous September year. That was a record annual figure for the US market. More than two-thirds of those arrivals, 266,500, gave a holiday as their main reason for travelling to New Zealand.
The annual arrivals totals for Australia, Taiwan and Singapore were also records for those markets. Taiwan accounted for 68,000 arrivals and Singapore for 66,000. India recorded 83,000 arrivals, its highest total for a year ending in September.
The latest annual total was higher than the 3.71 million visitor arrivals recorded in the year to August 2026. These are overlapping 12-month periods, so the difference between them should not be read as the number of visitors who arrived during September.
A record September
Looking at September alone, there were 273,000 overseas visitor arrivals, up 24,400 on the same month in 2025. That was the highest number recorded for a September, exceeding the previous September record of 261,800 in 2019, before the pandemic.
Australia accounted for 143,700 arrivals during the month and China for 33,100. Those were records for a September for both markets. Taiwan, with 5,500 arrivals, and Singapore, with 4,200, also recorded their highest September figures.
Visitors from Australia represented 53 per cent of overseas visitor arrivals in September 2026, while those from China accounted for 12 per cent. The corresponding shares in September 2019 were 51 per cent and 11 per cent.
Resident travel moved in the opposite direction
The figures separately count New Zealand residents returning from overseas. There were 3.06 million such arrivals in the year to September, down 14,400 from the preceding year. The measure includes people living in New Zealand, whether or not they are New Zealand citizens, returning from a trip abroad of less than 12 months.
Arrivals by New Zealand residents returning from the United States fell to 131,700 over the year, down 29,500, or 18 per cent. Among them, 54,900 had given a holiday as the main purpose of the trip, a fall of 20,700 from the previous year.
In September itself, resident traveller arrivals totalled 260,300, down 20,400 from a year earlier. Across all categories, the month brought about 1.07 million border crossings, comprising 545,100 arrivals and 529,100 departures.
International travel statistics use border records and arrival-card information to classify passenger movements. The visitor-arrival count includes short-term visits, but it does not, on its own, show how much visitors spent or how many separate people made the journeys. Spending is measured separately.
