Visitor arrivals from China to New Zealand through Wellington Airport
1980–2025, thousands
| Year | Number of arrivals |
|---|---|
| 1980 | 104 |
| 1981 | 96 |
| 1982 | 104 |
| 1983 | 132 |
| 1984 | 124 |
| 1985 | 164 |
| 1986 | 177 |
| 1987 | 228 |
| 1988 | 320 |
| 1989 | 218 |
| 1990 | 188 |
| 1991 | 239 |
| 1992 | 146 |
| 1993 | 339 |
| 1994 | 412 |
| 1995 | 705 |
| 1996 | 788 |
| 1997 | 1,229 |
| 1998 | 1,590 |
| 1999 | 1,787 |
| 2000 | 2,247 |
| 2001 | 2,850 |
| 2002 | 4,652 |
| 2003 | 2,608 |
| 2004 | 3,340 |
| 2005 | 2,514 |
| 2006 | 2,641 |
| 2007 | 1,951 |
| 2008 | 1,120 |
| 2009 | 1,214 |
| 2010 | 902 |
| 2011 | 1,185 |
| 2012 | 1,536 |
| 2013 | 1,216 |
| 2014 | 1,392 |
| 2015 | 1,760 |
| 2016 | 1,664 |
| 2017 | 1,808 |
| 2018 | 1,661 |
| 2019 | 1,712 |
| 2020 | 308 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2022 | 69 |
| 2023 | 721 |
| 2024 | 1,103 |
| 2025 | 1,274 |
Definitions
Country of residence: the country where the person last lived or will next live for 12 months or more.
Travel purpose: the main purpose for the visit to New Zealand or trip overseas. Categories are holiday, visiting friends and relatives, business, conferences and conventions, education, and other.
Visitor arrivals: Visitor arrivals are overseas residents arriving in New Zealand for a stay of less than 12 months.
Data calculation/treatment
These statistics relate to the number of passenger movements to New Zealand, rather than to the number of people - that is, the multiple movements of individual people during a given reference period are each counted separately.
From March 2020 to July 2022, the New Zealand government implemented measures to protect New Zealanders from the COVID-19 virus, effectively limiting travel to and from New Zealand.
For more information
Limitations of the data
A person may change their intentions after their arrival, which may mean the recorded passenger type becomes incorrect. Stats NZ does not revise published statistics for such changes, but advises that the published figures remain a good indicator of trends in permanent and long-term migration.
Data is derived from a sample of records and hence may contain sample error. Caution should be used when using data with low cell values.
Exclusions
'Transit' passengers do not complete border clearance - regardless of whether they travel by air or by sea - so are not included in these statistics. About three-quarters of cruise ship passengers visiting New Zealand are 'transit' passengers.
Changes to data collection/processing
Before September 1997, NZ port data refers to the first port of arrival in NZ. From September 1997, it refers to NZ port of disembarkation (port where passenger was processed by Customs).
Data provided by
Dataset name
International Travel: Visitor arrivals by country of residence, purpose and NZ port (Annual-Dec) December 2025
Webpage:
https://infoshare.stats.govt.nz/
How to find the data
At URL provided, select 'Tourism > International Travel and Migration > Visitor arrivals by country of residence, purpose and NZ port (Annual-Dec)'. All variables were selected to create this dataset.
Import & extraction details
File as imported: International Travel: Visitor arrivals by country of residence, purpose and NZ port (Annual-Dec) December 2025
From the dataset International Travel: Visitor arrivals by country of residence, purpose and NZ port (Annual-Dec) December 2025, this data was extracted:
- Rows: 5-51
- Columns: 2-325
- Provided: 15,228 data points
This data forms the table Travel - Visitor arrivals by country of residence, purpose and NZ port Year ended December 1979–2025.
Dataset originally released on:
February 13, 2026
About this dataset
International Travel covers the number and characteristics of overseas visitors and New Zealand resident travellers (short-term movements) entering New Zealand.
Method of collection/Data provider
Data is obtained from electronic passport and flight records by the New Zealand Customs Service.