OTTAWA — Travel by Canadian residents abroad and travel to Canada from abroad both decreased by 2.1% in January.

Canadian residents took 4.5 million trips to the United States in January, down 2.4% from December and led by a 4.9% drop in overnight car trips. Same-day car travel declined 1.1% to 2.6 million trips.

Trips to overseas countries also fell, declining by 0.4% in January.

United States residents made 3.0% fewer trips to Canada in January, while there was a 1.7% increase in the number of overseas travellers. Overall, the number of foreign visitors fell by 2.1% in January.

United States residents made 1.6 million trips to Canada, the lowest monthly number of trips since October 2009. Same-day car trips were down 1.7% from December while overnight car trips declined 2.6%.

Travel from overseas countries to Canada increased 1.7% in January to 413,000 trips, the highest monthly total since May 2008.

There were increases in trips from eight of the top 12 countries of origin for visitors to Canada in January. The largest percentage increase was in travel from South Korea (+11.4%), followed by Japan (+8.3%). France (-6.8%) and Switzerland (-5.3%) posted the largest declines in travel to Canada.