Spending by overseas visitors in New Zealand rose by 13 percent last year to 7.4 billion NZ dollars ($5.57 billion), led by a surge in Chinese visitors spending, said a government report on Friday.

The Chinese market passed 1 billion NZ dollars in expenditure, up 50 percent from the previous year, according to the quarterly International Visitor Survey from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Chinese visitors spent an average of 4,100 NZ dollars?each.

Significant increases in total spending was also seen among visitors from the United States, up an estimated 32 percent, and Britain, up 29 percent.

The survey showed an 8-percent drop in spending by visitors from Australia, the country's biggest tourism market.

Australian visitors spent 2.05 billion NZ dollars or 1,800 NZ dollars on average each.

The International Visitor Survey is based on results from about 8,900 visitors departing New Zealand airports.