Australian residents made a record 6.8 million short-term trips overseas in 2009-10, according to the latest data issued today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The figure is well above the 5.8 million movements in 2008-09, and more than double the record 10 years ago.

New Zealand was the most popular overseas destination for Australians going on short-term (less than 1 year) trips, with more than 1 million movements across the Tasman occurring in the last financial year, said ABS.

Indonesia comes next with 650,000, followed by the US with 630,000, the UK with 460,000 and Thailand with 430,000 movements. These top five destinations, accounted for just under half of all short-term resident departures for the year.

The most frequently cited reason for journey was holiday, contributing 55 per cent of all short-term resident departures. Other common reasons were visiting friends and relatives at 24 per cent and business at11 per cent.

During the 2009-10 period, Australian residents on short-term trips stated their average time overseas was 15 days.

The movement rate, measured by the number of international movements per 1,000 state or territory population, for short-term resident departures varied considerably across the states and territories. In 2009-10, Western Australia had the highest movement rate at 434, followed by the Australian Capital Territory at 429 and New South Wales at 331. The lowest movement rate was in Tasmania, with 150 movements per 1,000 population.

Short-term visitor arrivals, on the other hand, posted 5.7 million movements in 2009-10. This series, although the highest on record, has remained relatively flat over recent years. Traditionally, there are more short-term visitors arriving in Australia than short-term residents departing. However, since 2007-08 the reverse has occurred. In 2009-10 there were 1.1 million more short-term residents departing Australia than short-term visitors arriving, said ABS.