International travel by New Zealanders

IBISWorld expects international travel by New Zealanders to climb by 4.1% in 2025-26 to 3.29 million departures. Through the first five months of the year, international travel by New Zealanders has increased by 4.0% (55,574 departures), with this trend expected to continue into the second half of the year. Improving economic conditions, including growth in the consumer sentiment index and real household discretionary income, have been a significant contributing factor to the jump in outbound travel.

The pandemic had a drastic impact on international travel by New Zealanders. The implementation of strict border restrictions on outbound international travel in March 2020 led to a 97.1% decrease in international travel by New Zealanders in 2020-21, marking the largest single-year decline on record. International departures remained below 300,000 during 2021-22, as the pandemic continued to impact travel plans. However, the post-pandemic travel boom resulted in a swift recovery in international travel by New Zealanders across 2022-23 and 2023-24. While 2024-25 marked the conclusion of the post-pandemic international travel boom, it also resulted in a record number of international departures by New Zealanders, eclipsing pre-pandemic records by 1.9%.

The record amount of outbound travel in 2024-25 marked the continuation of a strong underlying growth trend over the past decade, excluding the pandemic. In total, international travel by New Zealanders increased by over 30.0% over the ten years through 2024-25. While much of this growth has been driven by a growing New Zealand population, long-run real household discretionary income growth has made international travel more affordable for more Kiwi households. Overall, IBISWorld forecasts international travel by New Zealanders to climb at a (pandemic-impacted) compound annualised rate of 105.4% over the five years through 2025-26.