Comedy legend Jerry Seinfeld will tour Australia next year for his first stand-up shows in this country since 1998.

"Australia may be far in miles but I feel very close to the people because of our mutual comedy connection," the 62-year-old New Yorker said in a statement issued through the tour's promoter, TEG Dainty. "I couldn't be more excited about seeing everyone there again."

Seinfeld, who currently presents the web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, has been performing live comedy since 1976, but became an international superstar with the success of his eponymous TV series, co-created with Larry David in 1989.

The show ran for nine seasons before a burnt-out Seinfeld called it quits, turning down an offer of $5 million a show for one more season. The finale aired in May 1998 to an audience of 76 million viewers in the US, with 30-second advertising slots selling for $1 million apiece.