Where New Zealand residents travelled abroad in 2025, from official statistics. Top destinations: June to August (their winter): Australia, Fiji and United Kingdom; January, February and December (their summer): Australia, China, People's Republic of and India. Figures are arrivals home as the statistics office counts them, so they are not comparable with other countries' pages.
Where New Zealand residents went in June to August 2025 (their winter)
The ten countries New Zealand residents visited most in June to August 2025, with each country's share of its whole year that fell in those months.1
| Rank | Destination | Arrivals home | Share of that destination's year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | 321,477 | 24.8% |
| 2 | Fiji | 70,012 | 34.4% |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 43,868 | 37.9% |
| 4 | United States of America | 41,888 | 27.1% |
| 5 | Indonesia | 36,179 | 37.9% |
| 6 | Cook Islands | 35,922 | 31.2% |
| 7 | China, People's Republic of | 35,435 | 21.2% |
| 8 | Samoa | 19,743 | 28.1% |
| 9 | Japan | 17,231 | 18.7% |
| 10 | India | 15,652 | 13.8% |
Left out because a month or quarter is missing or suppressed in the source: Austria, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea.
Countries whose busiest month for New Zealand residents falls in June to August: Fiji, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Cook Islands, Canada, France, Viet Nam, Germany, French Polynesia, Ireland.1
Where New Zealand residents went in January, February and December 2025 (their summer)
The ten countries New Zealand residents visited most in January, February and December 2025, with each country's share of its whole year that fell in those months.1
| Rank | Destination | Arrivals home | Share of that destination's year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | 301,718 | 23.3% |
| 2 | China, People's Republic of | 55,541 | 33.3% |
| 3 | India | 43,851 | 38.5% |
| 4 | Fiji | 35,677 | 17.6% |
| 5 | United States of America | 34,624 | 22.4% |
| 6 | Japan | 23,778 | 25.8% |
| 7 | Cook Islands | 21,531 | 18.7% |
| 8 | Philippines | 20,633 | 34.6% |
| 9 | United Kingdom | 20,623 | 17.8% |
| 10 | Samoa | 20,143 | 28.6% |
Left out because a month or quarter is missing or suppressed in the source: Austria, New Caledonia.
Countries whose busiest month for New Zealand residents falls in January, February and December: China, People's Republic of, India, United States of America, Philippines, Japan, Samoa, Thailand, South Africa, Tonga, Korea, Republic of.1
What these figures are
New Zealand-resident travellers arriving home, by main country visited. Stats NZ lists only the top 45 or so countries each month, so a country missing in any month of a season is left out of that season's list. A trip is counted in the month the traveller comes home. Busy months for a destination reflect when New Zealand residents travel, not the weather there or prices. The seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere: June to August is winter in Australia and New Zealand. January, February and December are taken from the same calendar year, not one continuous season. Each statistics office counts trips differently, so do not compare these numbers with another country's page.
For other countries' travellers, see summer and winter getaways; for the weather at the destinations, weather and climate.
Key takeaways
- June to August (their winter): Australia first, with 321,477 arrivals home.
- January, February and December (their summer): Australia first, with 301,718 arrivals home.
- What we would skip: comparing these numbers with another country's; each office counts differently.
Sources
Figures from the official statistics named below; rankings and shares are ours. See how we research.
- Data: Stats NZ, International travel: <month year> releases, August 2025 to July 2026, Table 6: New Zealand-resident traveller arrivals by main country visited (top 45/46). Read it. Accessed 6 October 2026. This work is based on Stats NZ's data which are licensed by Stats NZ for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. We ranked the destinations and worked out the shares.
Modified data: we ranked the destinations by season and worked out each destination's seasonal share, rounding once to one decimal place.