Tourism's impact on New Zealand

How does the tourism sector contribute to New Zealand? 

In 2026, tourism is New Zealand’s second largest export earner, with international tourism contributing $14.3b to our economy in the last 12 months (June 2026, Statistics NZ). Tourism makes a significant positive impact on regional economies by directly and indirectly employing one in nine New Zealanders. 

For the year ended March 2025:

• Tourism was New Zealand second largest export earner
• Total tourism expenditure was $46.6 billion, the highest it’s ever been, and is an increase of 3.3 percent ($1.5 billion) from the previous year
• International tourism expenditure increased by 7% percent ($1.2 billion) to $18.1 billion. This is a recovery of 106% compared to 2019 ($17.2 billion)
• GST generated from international tourists totalled $1.9 billion, an increase of $155 million
• Overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand increased 4.2 percent to 3.2 million
• Tourism generated a direct contribution to GDP of $18 billion, or 4.6 percent of GDP, an increase of 3.4 percent or $0.6 billion to the New Zealand economy from the previous year.
• 194,631 New Zealanders were directly employed in the tourism sector, an increase of 5,205 people from the previous year
• In total, 327,888 people were directly or indirectly employed in tourism, or one in nine New Zealanders.

This data is sourced from the Tourism Satellite Account by Stats NZ(opens in new window).