International tourism, number of departures in New Zealand
New Zealand: International tourism, number of departures was 511,000 in 2020. ▲ Rising
International tourism, number of departures in New Zealand, 1995–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
Analysis
New Zealand recorded 511,000 for international tourism, number of departures in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 26 years on record.
The figure is down 84.2% on the previous year and down 74.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, number of departures in New Zealand peaked at 3.23 million in 2019 and was at its lowest, 511,000, in 2020.
New Zealand ranks 81st of 117 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 26 years of available data.
International tourism, number of departures in New Zealand, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 920,000 | — |
| 1996 | 1.09 million | +18.8% |
| 1997 | 1.13 million | +3.6% |
| 1998 | 1.17 million | +3.0% |
| 1999 | 1.19 million | +1.6% |
| 2000 | 1.28 million | +8.3% |
| 2001 | 1.29 million | +0.3% |
| 2002 | 1.29 million | +0.5% |
| 2003 | 1.37 million | +6.3% |
| 2004 | 1.73 million | +26.1% |
| 2005 | 1.87 million | +8.0% |
| 2006 | 1.86 million | -0.6% |
| 2007 | 1.98 million | +6.3% |
| 2008 | 1.97 million | -0.6% |
| 2009 | 1.92 million | -2.5% |
| 2010 | 2.03 million | +5.6% |
| 2011 | 2.10 million | +3.5% |
| 2012 | 2.17 million | +3.6% |
| 2013 | 2.20 million | +1.2% |
| 2014 | 2.28 million | +3.6% |
| 2015 | 2.41 million | +6.0% |
| 2016 | 2.61 million | +8.3% |
| 2017 | 2.85 million | +9.3% |
| 2018 | 3.04 million | +6.5% |
| 2019 | 3.23 million | +6.2% |
| 2020 | 511,000 | -84.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 1.10 million | 920,000 | 1.19 million | 5 |
| 2000s | 1.66 million | 1.28 million | 1.98 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.49 million | 2.03 million | 3.23 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 511,000 | 511,000 | 511,000 | 1 |
Countries ranked near New Zealand
More private sector data for New Zealand
- Merchandise trade 35.7% (2025)
- Food imports 12.8% (2025)
- Manufactures imports 70.7% (2025)
- Merchandise imports 47.55 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 69.0% (2025)
- Manufactures exports 14.0% (2025)
- Merchandise exports 46.70 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 8,770 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.1769 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 10.43 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is international tourism, number of departures in New Zealand?
- International tourism, number of departures in New Zealand was 511,000 in 2020, according to Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
- What is the highest international tourism, number of departures recorded in New Zealand?
- The highest recorded value was 3.23 million in 2019.
- What is the lowest international tourism, number of departures recorded in New Zealand?
- The lowest recorded value was 511,000 in 2020.
- How does New Zealand rank for international tourism, number of departures?
- New Zealand ranks 81st out of 117 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, number of departures rising or falling in New Zealand?
- Over the last ten years it is down 74.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this New Zealand data come from?
- The figures come from Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism, published as part of International tourism, number of departures. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 26 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
International outbound tourists are the number of departures that people make from their country of usual residence to any other country for any purpose other than a remunerated activity in the country visited. The data on outbound tourists refer to the number of departures, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips from a country during a given period is counted each time as a new departure.