Canberra, Nov 14 : The number of international arrivals to Australia has increased to the highest number since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, official data showed on Tuesday. According to the data published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 1.74 million people arrived in Australia from overseas in October, up from 1.6 million in September, reports Xinhua news agency. It marked an increase of 43 per cent from 1.21 million arrivals in October 2022 and the highest monthly figure since January 2020 when arrivals to Australia hit an all-time high of 2.26 million before strict Covid-19 border restrictions were put in place in February 2020. Detailed data for September, also published on Tuesday, revealed that 939,000 of the 1.6 million arrivals in the month were Australian residents returning from short-term international trips. There were 640,210 overseas visitor arrivals to Australia in September. Of those, 584,620 (91.3 percent) visited Australia for short-term stays, up from 371,850 in September 2022, while 55,590 stayed for long-term visits. There were 11,850 permanent arrivals from overseas, an increase of 36.3 per cent from 8,690 in September 2022. New Zealand was the biggest source of overseas visitors to Australia in September, accounting for 128,820 trips, followed by China at 59,080 and the US with 36,400. More than three quarters of international visitors who arrived in Australia in September said they were either visiting friends and relatives or on a holiday. In October, 1.48 million people departed Australia, the ABS said, down from 1.58 million in September. /IANS