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Stats has released their data for International Travel in April 2025 which shows international visitor arrivals into New Zealand reached 267,300, making a significant jump of 42,200 compared with April 2024.
Despite still trailing pre‑COVID levels, April’s arrivals stood at 87 percent of the 307,400 recorded in April 2019.
Australia leading
The standout trend was the rise in visitors from Australia, with 33,800 more arrivals than a year ago—largely due to the timing of Easter and Easter‑school holiday periods. Other increases came from the United Kingdom (+4,000), the United States (+3,300), and Hong Kong (+1,600), while Indonesia slipped by around 1,100.
Kiwi returnees nearly match pre‑pandemic levels
Short‑term travel by New Zealand residents rebounded strongly. In April 2025, about 244,800 Kiwi residents returned from trips—up by 2,700 compared to April 2024—and slightly above April 2019 figures (101 percent)
Major growth was also seen from travelers returning from China (+1,900), Japan (+1,700) and Australia (+1,600)
Travel patterns
The merging of Easter (Good Friday on April 18) with school holidays (April) 12–27 in 2025 explains peaks seen mid‑month. In 2024 Easter fell in March, shifting travel volumes earlier. Stats NZ notes that Australian school holiday timing contributed to higher April travel this year .
Annual totals
Over the 12 months to April 2025, 3.36 million overseas visitors arrived—up 176,000 from the prior year. Increases include Australians (+150,000), visitors from China (+27,000), the UK (+18,000), and Japan (+11,000) Meanwhile, 3.02 million New Zealand residents travelled abroad, bringing a 140,000‑strong rise—led by Aussies, Indonesians, Chinese, Japanese, Indians, and travelers to the Cook Islands
April 2025 saw 1.10 million border crossings (519,200 arrivals and 580,800 departures), up from 1.02 million in April 2024 and equal to 93 percent of April 2019’s crossing levels
Since mid‑2023, travelers have had the option of using the New Zealand Traveler Declaration (NZTD) digital arrival card. By April 2025, nearly two‑thirds of all arrivals were recorded digitally, though official travel trends remain statistically unaffected.
Read the full report here
