UK Tourism in Australia 2024 | Statistics and Charts

Published 6 Jan 2020 · Updated 26 June 2025

How many British tourists visit Australia each year?

Over 605,000 visitors from the United Kingdom travelled to Australia in 2024.

This represented a 7.84% increase compared to the 561,000 UK visitors recorded in 2023.
The number of UK visitors in 2024 was 9.97% lower than in 2019 (672,000 visitors).
The United Kingdom ranked 4th among all international visitor markets to Australia in 2024.

Chart of annual UK tourist arrivals to Australia. — Annual UK tourist arrivals to Australia.

How much did British tourists spend in Australia in 2024?

UK visitors spent approximately $4.23 billion during trips to Australia in 2024.

In 2024, spending within Australia by UK visitors increased by 15.79%, rising from $1.90 billion in 2023 to $2.20 billion. Total trip spending grew by 7.09%, increasing from $3.95 billion to $4.23 billion.
In 2024, spending within Australia by UK visitors was 23.6% higher than the 2019 level of $1.78 billion. However, total trip spending in 2024 exceeded the 2019 figure of $3.36 billion by 25.89%, reflecting a shift toward higher total travel expenditures compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The United Kingdom ranked 3rd in terms of total spending by international visitors in Australia in 2024.

Tourism Spending by UK Visitors in Australia
Year	Spend in Australia	Total Trip Spend
2019	1.78 B	3.36 B
2020	–	1.03 B
2021	.14 B	.30 B
2022	1.09 B	2.18 B
2023	1.90 B	3.95 B
2024	2.20 B	4.23 B

How many British tourists visited Australia in 2021?

Over 5,900 visitors from the UK came to Australia between April 2020 and March 2021. Visitors from the UK were down 99.1% when compared to the over 637,000 visitors of the previous year.

How much did visitors from the UK spend in Australia in 2021?

Visitors from the UK spent over $92 million during visits to Australia between April 2020 and March 2021. Spending by British visitors was down 97.1% when compared to the over $3.1 billion spent during the previous year.

How many British tourists visited Australia in 2020?

An estimated 562,750 visitors from the UK travelled to Australia for the year ending June 2020.

Visitors from the UK decreased by 21.6% when compared with the 718,600 of the previous year.
The UK was the 4th highest source of visitors to Australia in 2019/20.
The effects of the coronavirus travel restrictions are the main cause of this dramatic decrease.

Grouped column infographic comparing 2019 and 2020 Australian visitor numbers by source country, with percentage-decline callouts per country. — UK visitor numbers to Australia, year ending June 2020.

Impact of the Coronavirus on Brisith Tourist Expenditure

Visitors from the UK spent an estimated $2.6 billion during visits to Australia in the year ending June 2020.

Spending was down 23.5% when compared with the $3.4 billion of the previous year.

Infographic comparing 2019 versus 2020 visitor expenditure in Australia by source country, with a per-country percentage-decrease column. — UK tourist expenditure in Australia, year ending June 2020.

How many British tourists visited Australia in 2019?

718,600 British tourists visited Australia between July 2018 and June 2019, down 3.2% from 742,700 during 2017/18¹.

British tourism through the years

British tourism peaked in 2006/07 with 745,500 visitors.
- This could be attributed to both the Ashes cricket series and Commonwealth Bank cricket series being held in Australia that year.
After 2006/07, British tourism saw a decline and only started to improve in 2011/12.
Despite nearly reaching the peak again in 2017/18, British tourism fell again this year.

Chart of British visitor numbers to Australia by year, 1990 to 2019. — British visitors to Australia between 1990 and 2019.

The UK’s share in the Australian tourism industry

The UK accounted for 7.9% of all visitors to Australia in 2018/19².
The UK currently ranks 4th for the top visitors to Australia.

Donut chart infographic showing the share of Australia's 2019 visitors by country of residence, with China and other top markets labelled. — Top countries that sent visitors to Australia in 2019.

Reasons British tourists visit Australia

Visiting friends/relatives is cited as the most common reason British tourists visit Australia.
Holidays are also a popular reason for British tourists to visit.

The UK’s contribution to tourism expenditure in Australia

At an estimated $3.4B in 2018/19, the UK accounted for 7.6% of all expenditure from international tourists, ranking 3rd for Australia.
Ahead of the UK were China and the USA.

Infographic ranking top source countries by visitor expenditure in Australia in 2019, led by China, using stacked-coin bars. — Australian tourism top spenders in 2019, by country.

Other Resources

Top British Travel Trends in 2019

What do British tourists spend on in Australia?

British tourists spent $94 per day in 2018/19, ranking 5th on the list of top spenders.
Food, drink and accommodation were the most popular items at $49 per day.
Spending on shopping and education were comparatively low.

Grouped horizontal-bar infographic of per-day visitor spend in Australia in 2019 by source country across spending categories and total. — Australian visitor spend per day in 2019, by country.

An estimated 76% of UK citizens hold a passport³.
The UK’s top travel destinations in 2018 were Spain, France and Italy⁴.
All of the top 10 destinations were European countries, suggesting British tourists prefer locations closer to home.
Despite attracting 718,600 visitors, Australia is still low on the list, not yet making it into the UK’s top 10.

Campervan hire in Australia

References

Overseas Arrivals and Departures, Australia, August 2019 · abs.gov.au ↑
International Visitor Survey, 2019 · tra.gov.au ↑
ONS Country of Birth and Nationality, 2011 Census · webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk ↑
Finder UK Outbound Travel Statistics, October 2019 · finder.com ↑
TRA — International tourism results, Australia, March 2024 · tra.gov.au