Where Australians travel: the most popular destinations
Every month the Australian Bureau of Statistics counts where Australians went. This page turns that count into something readable, and refreshes it as each release lands. Figures cover the 12 months to August 2026, the most recent complete year of data.
Australians took 12.77 million short-term overseas trips in the 12 months to August 2026. Indonesia was the most popular destination with 1,806,970 trips (14.1% of all overseas travel), ahead of New Zealand (1,504,750) and Japan (989,240).
The 15 most popular destinations
Trips taken by Australian residents in the 12 months to August 2026, by the country named as the main destination of the trip.
Counts trips, not people: someone who goes twice is counted twice. Each trip is attributed to the one country the traveller nominated as its main destination, so a stopover on the way somewhere else is not counted separately. Trips are recorded as travellers arrive home, which puts a Christmas holiday in the January figures.
Every destination, ranked
All 50 destinations the ABS publishes separately. Sort any column, or search for a country.
50 of 50 destinations shown
| Rank | Destination | Trips | Share | Year on year | vs 2018-19 | Rank move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indonesia | 1,806,970 | 14.1% | - | 137.8% | +1 |
| 2 | New Zealand | 1,504,750 | 11.8% | - | 104.2% | -1 |
| 3 | Japan | 989,240 | 7.7% | - | 204.5% | +4 |
| 4 | China | 750,870 | 5.9% | - | 122.9% | +1 |
| 5 | United States | 678,390 | 5.3% | - | 62.9% | -2 |
| 6 | Thailand | 625,570 | 4.9% | - | 110.7% | no change |
| 7 | India | 622,820 | 4.9% | - | 149.6% | +1 |
| 8 | United Kingdom | 588,550 | 4.6% | - | 88.1% | -4 |
| 9 | Vietnam | 588,490 | 4.6% | - | 182.5% | +2 |
| 10 | Fiji | 438,610 | 3.4% | - | 127% | no change |
| 11 | Singapore | 395,120 | 3.1% | - | 97.5% | -2 |
| 12 | Malaysia | 311,180 | 2.4% | - | 116.1% | no change |
| 13 | Italy | 306,290 | 2.4% | - | 117.2% | no change |
| 14 | Philippines | 305,010 | 2.4% | - | 122.2% | +1 |
| 15 | Canada | 183,830 | 1.4% | - | 99.7% | +1 |
| 16 | Hong Kong | 183,690 | 1.4% | - | 72.5% | -2 |
| 17 | France | 160,470 | 1.3% | - | 107.8% | no change |
| 18 | South Korea | 149,190 | 1.2% | - | 188.6% | +7 |
| 19 | Sri Lanka | 142,330 | 1.1% | - | 125% | +1 |
| 20 | Greece | 141,210 | 1.1% | - | 118% | -2 |
| 21 | Spain | 104,260 | 0.8% | - | 108.7% | +1 |
| 22 | Germany | 98,450 | 0.8% | - | 84.9% | -3 |
| 23 | Taiwan | 89,850 | 0.7% | - | 126.8% | +3 |
| 24 | South Africa | 83,420 | 0.7% | - | 95.2% | -1 |
| 25 | Vanuatu | 81,580 | 0.6% | - | 127.5% | +2 |
| 26 | Ireland | 75,410 | 0.6% | - | 89.6% | -2 |
| 27 | Papua New Guinea | 71,660 | 0.6% | - | 73.3% | -6 |
| 28 | United Arab Emirates | 69,830 | 0.5% | - | 126.4% | no change |
| 29 | Pakistan | 59,900 | 0.5% | - | 141.7% | +3 |
| 30 | Nepal | 57,670 | 0.5% | - | 155.3% | +5 |
| 31 | Türkiye | 55,370 | 0.4% | - | 139.4% | +2 |
| 32 | Samoa | 44,410 | 0.3% | - | 137% | +5 |
| 33 | Lebanon | 40,650 | 0.3% | - | 77.6% | -4 |
| 34 | Cambodia | 37,220 | 0.3% | - | 78.7% | -4 |
| 35 | Switzerland | 33,120 | 0.3% | - | 101.1% | +1 |
| 36 | Croatia | 31,430 | 0.2% | - | 71.3% | -5 |
| 37 | Bangladesh | 30,080 | 0.2% | - | 131.4% | +7 |
| 38 | Brazil | 28,920 | 0.2% | - | 141.4% | +10 |
| 39 | Portugal | 28,470 | 0.2% | - | 118.1% | +2 |
| 40 | Netherlands | 27,330 | 0.2% | - | 71.5% | -6 |
| 41 | Austria | 23,980 | 0.2% | - | 102.9% | +1 |
| 42 | Peru | 22,360 | 0.2% | - | 104.1% | +4 |
| 43 | Poland | 20,750 | 0.2% | - | 99.7% | +4 |
| 44 | Chile | 20,320 | 0.2% | - | 92.1% | +1 |
| 45 | Mexico | 19,860 | 0.2% | - | 77.9% | -5 |
| 46 | Sweden | 19,120 | 0.1% | - | 97.7% | +4 |
| 47 | Israel | 14,230 | 0.1% | - | 48.3% | -9 |
| 48 | New Caledonia | 11,230 | 0.1% | - | 48.4% | -5 |
| 49 | Iran | 9,690 | 0.1% | - | 48.3% | no change |
| 50 | Russian Federation | 7,700 | 0.1% | - | 29.6% | -11 |
"vs 2018-19" compares today with the last full financial year before the pandemic: 100% means a destination has exactly as many Australian trips as it did then. Rank move compares today's position with its position that year. The ABS reports the United Kingdom together with the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
What changed after the borders reopened
Australian travel did not simply resume where it left off. Measured against 2018-19, Japan has gained the most and United States the least, and the order of the top ten looks meaningfully different from the way it looked before 2020.
Climbing the rankings
- South Korea up 7 places to number 18, on 149,190 trips
- Japan up 4 places to number 3, on 989,240 trips
- Taiwan up 3 places to number 23, on 89,850 trips
- Vietnam up 2 places to number 9, on 588,490 trips
- Vanuatu up 2 places to number 25, on 81,580 trips
Slipping down
- United Kingdom down 4 places to number 8, on 588,550 trips
- Germany down 3 places to number 22, on 98,450 trips
- United States down 2 places to number 5, on 678,390 trips
- Singapore down 2 places to number 11, on 395,120 trips
- Hong Kong down 2 places to number 16, on 183,690 trips
Fifty years of Australian travel
The ABS has counted this every month since 1975. The line shows how completely the habit of travelling overseas has changed, and how sharply it stopped in 2020-21.
See these numbers as a table
| Financial year | Trips |
|---|---|
| 2025-26 | 12,711,640 |
| 2024-25 | 12,261,080 |
| 2023-24 | 10,986,690 |
| 2022-23 | 8,337,100 |
| 2021-22 | 1,590,890 |
| 2020-21 | 223,820 |
| 2019-20 | 8,559,160 |
| 2018-19 | 11,231,820 |
| 2017-18 | 10,759,400 |
| 2016-17 | 10,297,150 |
| 2015-16 | 9,665,310 |
| 2014-15 | 9,262,480 |
| 2013-14 | 8,986,740 |
| 2012-13 | 8,401,190 |
| 2011-12 | 8,015,580 |
| 2010-11 | 7,424,460 |
| 2009-10 | 6,680,870 |
| 2008-09 | 5,858,170 |
| 2007-08 | 5,716,220 |
| 2006-07 | 5,113,320 |
| 2005-06 | 4,789,070 |
| 2004-05 | 4,540,270 |
| 2003-04 | 3,813,290 |
| 2002-03 | 3,309,870 |
| 2001-02 | 3,344,980 |
| 2000-01 | 3,543,010 |
| 1999-00 | 3,299,920 |
| 1998-99 | 3,191,620 |
| 1997-98 | 3,020,110 |
| 1996-97 | 2,786,040 |
| 1995-96 | 2,569,340 |
| 1994-95 | 2,386,960 |
| 1993-94 | 2,245,560 |
| 1992-93 | 2,218,480 |
| 1991-92 | 2,072,410 |
| 1990-91 | 2,054,210 |
| 1989-90 | 2,026,280 |
| 1988-89 | 1,763,320 |
| 1987-88 | 1,617,180 |
| 1986-87 | 1,523,820 |
| 1985-86 | 1,485,470 |
| 1984-85 | 1,461,250 |
| 1983-84 | 1,261,020 |
| 1982-83 | 1,240,830 |
| 1981-82 | 1,200,100 |
| 1980-81 | 1,187,670 |
| 1979-80 | 1,189,100 |
| 1978-79 | 1,101,690 |
| 1977-78 | 989,030 |
| 1976-77 | 963,710 |
| 1975-76 | 931,750 |
When Australians go, and where it matters most
Not every destination has the same shape of year. Among the twenty most popular, Greece is the most concentrated into one part of the year and Thailand the most evenly spread. That matters for what you pay: the busiest month is when flights, accommodation and tours are dearest, and when the cheap insurance and eSIM options sell out first.
Greece
Busiest July, quietest March.
Thailand
Busiest January, quietest February.
Each column is that month's share of the destination's year, averaged over the last five years. Because trips are counted as travellers arrive home, the peak falls slightly later than the month people left.
Statistics by destination
How many Australians go, when they go, and what has changed - for each destination this site covers.
The other half of the picture
This page counts where Australians go. The companion to it counts whether the flight actually went: Australian flight delays and cancellations ranks every major domestic route and airline on the official BITRE record, including the domestic connections into the airports that international flights leave from.
How these figures are put together
The source is the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Overseas Arrivals and Departures, the count taken as travellers pass through the border. This page reads one part of it: short-term resident returns by country of main destination, original series.
A figure is only shown for a full twelve months, so a destination is never compared on a part-year. Comparisons run against 2018-19, the last complete financial year before the pandemic, because the years either side of it were shaped by closed borders rather than by choice: a five-year comparison would land on 2020-21, when almost nobody flew, and would report growth of tens of thousands of per cent that means nothing.
The numbers refresh automatically when the ABS publishes, which is monthly with roughly a five-week lag. The ABS also revises recent months as late arrivals are processed, so a figure here can move slightly after first publication. Where our figure and the ABS disagree, the ABS is right, and we would rather you check: every table on this page links its source.
Contains ABS data used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Figures last refreshed 20 October 2026, covering data to August 2026. Our full list of sources is on the data sources page.
Use this data
Free to reuse, including commercially, with attribution. The underlying counts are the ABS's under a CC BY 4.0 licence; the derived figures on this page - share, recovery, rank movement and seasonality - are ours, offered on the same terms.
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Every file carries a data dictionary explaining what each field means and how it was derived.
Cite this page
Before You Fly (2026). Australian outbound travel by destination. Derived from Australian Bureau of Statistics, Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia. Retrieved from https://beforeyoufly.com.au/travel-statistics/
Australian travel statistics FAQs
Where do Australians travel the most?
Indonesia is the most popular overseas destination for Australian travellers, with 1,806,970 trips in the 12 months to August 2026, or 14.1% of all short-term overseas travel. New Zealand is second with 1,504,750 trips and Japan third with 989,240. The figures come from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and count trips by the country travellers nominated as their main destination.
How many Australians travel overseas each year?
Australians took 12,771,230 short-term overseas trips in the 12 months to August 2026. That counts trips rather than individual people, so one traveller taking three trips appears three times. Short-term means a trip of less than one year.
Is Bali still the most popular destination for Australians?
Indonesia is the single most popular destination country for Australian travellers, and Bali is the reason: it receives the large majority of Australian arrivals to Indonesia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes these figures by country rather than by island, so a precise Bali-only number is not available from this source, and this page does not estimate one.
Which destinations have grown the most for Australian travellers?
Measured against 2018-19, the last full year before the pandemic, Japan has grown the most among major destinations: Australians now take 204.5% of the trips there that they did before. South Korea has climbed 7 places in the rankings over the same period. United States has recovered least, at 62.9% of its pre-pandemic level.
When do most Australians travel overseas?
Australian overseas travel peaks around the summer school holidays, and the pattern differs sharply by destination. Among the top twenty, Greece is the most concentrated, with 21.8% of its year falling in July, while Thailand is the most evenly spread across the year. Trips are counted as travellers return home, so a December departure often lands in the January figures.
Where does this travel data come from?
The Australian Bureau of Statistics, in its monthly Overseas Arrivals and Departures release. This page uses short-term resident returns by country of main destination, the original (not seasonally adjusted) series. ABS data is published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The figures here were last refreshed on 20 October 2026 and cover data to August 2026.
What is actually worth booking.
New destination guides and side-by-side comparisons for Australian travellers - which eSIM, which travel card, which insurance is worth paying for, and what to sort before you go. Prices in Australian dollars, a few emails a year.