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Statistics NZ data released today for February 2025 shows monthly overseas arrivals are down year-on-year, with the biggest decrease seen in our Chinese visitors.
Monthly arrivals – overseas visitors
Overseas visitor arrivals were 354,400 in February 2025, a decrease of 8400 from February 2024. The biggest changes were in arrivals from:
United States (up 8,200)
Australia (up 7,600)
United Kingdom (up 3,100)
Canada (up 1,600)
Japan (up 1,100)
China (down 18,400)
Taiwan (down 1,500)
Malaysia (down 1,200).
There were 63,700 overseas visitor arrivals from the United States in February 2025, which is a record for any month from that country.
The fall in overseas visitor arrivals from China in February 2025 compared to February 2024 reflected the timing of the Chinese New Year.
In 2025, the Chinese New Year began on January 29. In 2024 it began on February 10.
Monthly arrivals from China typically peak in January or February each year, depending on the timing of the Chinese New Year.
There were 55,200 overseas visitor arrivals from China in January and February 2025 combined. This compares with 58,500 in the same period in 2024.
The total number of overseas visitor arrivals in February 2025 was 85 per cent of the 417,900 in February 2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic).
Of the 354,400 overseas visitor arrivals in February 2025:
33 per cent were from Australia (compared with 30 per cent in February 2019)
18 per cent were from the United States (13 per cent in February 2019)
9 per cent were from the United Kingdom (9 per cent in February 2019)
6 per cent were from China (12 per cent in February 2019)
4 per cent were from Canada (3 per cent in February 2019).
