International student surge leads to record $48bn education exports high

The post-Covid boom in international students drove the value of Australia’s education exports to an all-time record in 2023.

International students drove the value of Australia’s education exports to $48bn in 2023, an all-time record.

The post-Covid international student boom drove the value of Australia’s education exports to an all-time record $48bn in 2023, well above the 2019 pre-Covid peak of $40bn.

According to balance of payments figures, released on Tuesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the value of international student spending in Australia was $13.7bn in the December quarter alone, and $47.8bn over the year.

It is a massive increase over the $26.6bn recorded in 2022, the first year international students were allowed back into the country after the Covid border closures ended.

The education export figure includes international student spending on tuition fees, housing, living costs, entertainment and other expenditure within Australia.

However, the Albanese government’s migration crackdown is expected to bring an end to the rapidly rising number of international students, following its decision to slow down the issue of student visas and increase the number of rejections.

International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood said the record education export value did not reflect the growing problems within the industry.

“The headline figure camouflages the increasing challenges, with both winners and losers in the international education sector. While some providers have experienced record enrolment numbers a much larger group are finding it incredibly tough going,” he said.

“Given the government’s determination to clamp down on student numbers, this $48bn figure is not expected to be repeated any time soon.”

Sixteen universities told the Department of Home Affairs last month that they stood to lose a collective $310m this year because of the department’s sharp slowdown in student visa processing.

The vice-chancellors told the government that while they supported the government’s new migration strategy to reduce the number of non-genuine international students in Australia, “the way in which the strategy is being implemented through the de-prioritisation of visa processing means that multiple universities are facing significant financial repercussions”.

The huge rise in 2023 education exports was driven by increasing enrolments of international students in local education institutions, which rose to 975,000 in 2023, 31 per cent higher than in 2022, according to federal Department of Education data.

The highest enrolment growth was for students enrolled in English courses, which more than doubled to 162,000. The number of international student enrolments in higher education rose 22 per cent to 437,000.

The Indian student market grew strongly in 2023, particularly in higher education, where enrolments were up 54 per cent on the previous year to 85,000.

Other strong growth markets include Nepal, where higher education enrolments grew 23 per cent to 41,000; Vietnam, where higher education enrolments grew 28 per cent to 18,000, and; Pakistan, where higher education enrolments grew 85 per cent to 15,000.

The Chinese student market is still Australia’s largest but it’s growth has slowed and it is still significantly weaker than it was in 2019, before Covid. There were 192,000 Chinese enrolments in 2023, up 8 per cent on 2022. However, in 2019 there were 260,000 Chinese enrolments in Australia.