Vietnam has emerged as Australia’s fastest-growing outbound destination, with travel to the Southeast Asian nation rising by nearly 30% in the year to June 2025.
Now an established top 10 overseas market for Aussie travellers, Vietnam saw a whopping 27.5% increase in short-term resident returns for the year to June 2025, the highest growth rate for any destination, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) latest monthly report on travel to and from Australia.
The new ABS data shows that China saw the next most significant rise, with 26.8% growth, placing both Vietnam and China well ahead of third-placed Japan, which saw a healthy 10.5% rise, and other traditional favourites.
Elsewhere, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand and the United States saw slight gains year-on-year for June, while the UK remained static. Fiji and Italy saw minor drops in visitor numbers.
When it comes to overall numbers for June, Indonesia still leads the way with 149,260 visitors (equal to 16% of all resident returns) – thanks mainly to holiday hotspot Bali – followed by New Zealand (80,960), UK (65,130), Japan (56,530) and USA (54,240).
China, Thailand, Italy, Fiji and Vietnam rounded out the top 10 outbound destinations for the month.
While Vietnam and China lead the way in terms of growth, it’s worth noting that both countries benefit from major VFR (visiting friends and relatives) markets, thanks to large and long-established communities in Australia – and in the case of China, a lower baseline due to the country’s delayed resumption of international travel. Increased air connectivity between Australia and China has also helped lift numbers over the past 12 months – and that’s likely to continue, with Shenzhen Airlines the latest Chinese airline to enter the Aussie air travel market in Melbourne.
Short-term resident returns, Australia – top 10 destination countries(a)
| Country of Stay | Jun 2019 | Jun 2023 | Jun 2024 | Jun 2025 |
| Indonesia | 114,280 | 112,370 | 147,360 | 149,260 |
| New Zealand | 80,740 | 67,340 | 77,760 | 80,960 |
| UK | 64,610 | 61,260 | 65,090 | 65,130 |
| Japan | 31,650 | 32,060 | 51,160 | 56,530 |
| USA | 86,380 | 49,330 | 52,910 | 54,240 |
| China(b) | 49,670 | 25,270 | 39,330 | 49,890 |
| Thailand | 38,900 | 35,740 | 42,780 | 44,130 |
| Italy | 31,120 | 32,740 | 36,300 | 35,000 |
| Fiji | 27,970 | 32,200 | 36,240 | 34,840 |
| Vietnam | 18,740 | 20,980 | 24,980 | 31,840 |
- Top 10 destination countries for June 2025.
- Excludes SARs and Taiwan.
Per region, NSW recorded the most short-term trips abroad (286,920), followed by Victoria (252,660) and Queensland (178,990).
| Region | Number of resident returns |
| New South Wales | 286920 |
| Victoria | 252660 |
| Queensland | 178990 |
| South Australia | 42670 |
| Western Australia | 120200 |
| Tasmania | 9810 |
| Northern Territory | 5590 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 17080 |
Overall, 914,080 short-term resident returns were recorded in June 2025, up 5.8% compared with the same month last year. That’s 50,140 more trips y-o-y, and importantly, 8.6% higher than pre-COVID June 2019 levels.
On the arrivals side, international travel to Australia also grew year-over-year, with short-term visitor arrivals hitting 624,510 in June, a 6.3% y-on-y increase. However, the number of trips was 5.4% lower than the pre-COVID level in June 2019.
New Zealand was the largest source country, accounting for one in every five (19%) visitors.
