New Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows there were 1,036,660 short-term visitor arrivals to Australia in December 2025, an increase of 91,370 (9.7 per cent) compared with the corresponding month of the previous year.

The number of trips was 3.8 per cent lower than the pre-pandemic level in December 2019, while short-term arrivals from the UK were the highest on record.

New Zealand was the largest source country, accounting for 13.7 per cent of all visitor arrivals.

The three leading source countries where visitors came from were: New Zealand (142,420 trips), the United Kingdom (138,610) and the United States (102,590).

The highest number of visitor arrivals for short-term trips was observed for NSW (389,290).

The top three markets for NSW were the United States (53,270), United Kingdom (48,790) and New Zealand (42,290).

UK visitors to NSW surged in comparison to pre-pandemic levels, up from 41,970 in December 2019), with arrivals including thousands of Barmy Army fans attending the New Year Test.

Arrivals from New Zealand and South Korea in December 2025 also exceeded December 2019 levels.

View the full results here.