New Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released on Wednesday shows the number of trips in and out of Australia has almost doubled since March.
However, despite a promising rebound, the overall number of trips in and out of the country was still well below the pre-pandemic peak of late 2019, driven by a dramatic reduction in short-term visitors.
In May this year, the ABS recorded 651,060 arrivals into Australia and 663,970 departures as easing travel restrictions resulted in a return to trips overseas for many.
That was a dramatic increase from March, which saw 374,630 arrivals and 335,240 departures.
The March data showed a more than tenfold increase from six months prior, during the height of Australia's border restrictions.
In October 2021, just 16,630 arrivals were recorded into Australia. There was a year-low of just 30,330 departures in September 2021.
These numbers relate to individual border crossings, not necessarily individual people, who may have made multiple trips.
Since that low point, the number of trips has been trending upward, but there is a long way to go before pre-pandemic levels will be achieved again.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia recorded a high of 2.26 million arrivals (January 2020) and 2.24 million departures (December 2019) as part of the annual peak either side of Christmas.
Within three months though, arrivals had plummeted to around 20,000 and departures to roughly 30,000.
The total number of arrivals in April 2022 was less than a third of the number in 2019 — 573,930 compared to 1.67 million.
The one demographic that registered an overall increase from its pre-pandemic levels was long-term Australian resident returns, from 10,740 in 2019 to 18,460 — almost double — in 2022.
Permanent arrivals also rebounded to pre-pandemic levels (7,780 in 2019 to 8,010 in 2022), but all other groups were down.
The biggest impact was on short-term arrivals — both Australian residents and overseas visitors.
From a peak of 1.077 million arrivals in December 2019, the number of arrivals plummeted to just 2,250 by the time border closures were in full force in April 2020.
The Australian government's COVID-19 travel restrictions first came into effect on February 1, 2020, with all overseas travel banned on March 20.
The ABS noted: "The pandemic has continued to disrupt international travel with volumes at a record low in 2021."
The 300,840 resident trips overseas in 2021 were down 89.4 per cent from the previous year, making it the lowest annual number of resident trips in a calendar year on record.
The ABS noted that the numbers of Australian residents travelling overseas had steadily increased for decades, although major events had an impact on the number of trips taken, such as September 11, the 2003 SARS outbreak and COVID-19.
The travel corridor between Australia and New Zealand opened in April 2021, which was reflected in a jump in the number of short-term arrivals entering the country.
International travel was permitted for fully vaccinated Australians in states that had an 80 per cent vaccination rate in October.
The border was fully reopened to all states in February this year.
A requirement to demonstrate a negative pre-departure COVID test for visitors to Australia was removed on April 17.
In April 2021, 16,320 New Zealanders arrived in Australia, compared to just 660 from the UK, 880 from the USA and a handful of other countries.
There were 235,460 trips in April 2022, an increase of over 212,000 from the previous year.
However, that was still 66.4 per cent fewer arrivals than in April 2019.
Travel restrictions were eased in stages from November 1, 2021, with the data showing a steady climb from that point.
