January 2023 was the first month to see more than million border crossings since COVID-19 related border and travel restrictions were introduced in March 2020, according to data released by Stats NZ.
There were 514,100 arrivals and 497,000 departures in January 2023.
“People have started to travel again. January 2023 border crossings are two-thirds of the 1.5 million that travelled in January 2020, before the pandemic,” population indicators manager Tehseen Islam says.
“As COVID-19-related border restrictions were gradually eased from early 2022, border crossing numbers increased nearly every month throughout that year.”
Border crossings include all arrivals and departures, either for short-term trips or longer-term migration, by people living overseas or in New Zealand.
Visitor arrivals exceed quarter million
There were 265,400 overseas visitor arrivals in January 2023, compared with 4000 in January 2022.
“We are seeing overseas visitor numbers rebound, although they are about two-thirds of the level before the pandemic,” Tehseen says.
The peak season for overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand is typically from December to February.
Australia remained the main source of visitor arrivals in January 2023, with about two in every five from there. This was followed by the United Kingdom (15 per cent) and the United States (10 per cent).
Visitor arrivals from China remained well down in January 2023, with 4900 arriving compared with 50,300 in January 2020. China was New Zealand’s second largest source of visitor arrivals immediately before the pandemic.
