Education added over $29 billion to the economy in 2022, with international students in Australia contributing $25.5 billion and students studying online* adding a further $3.5 billion.
黑料老司机 Chief Executive Catriona Jackson said the sector鈥檚 ongoing recovery was boosting Australia鈥檚 economic position in a tough fiscal landscape.
鈥淚nternational education鈥檚 strong rebound is an economic winner for Australia,鈥 Ms Jackson said.
鈥淓ducation is our largest services export and the biggest product we don鈥檛 source from the ground.
鈥淭he export income our universities help generate pays for essential services and underpins a higher standard of living for all Australians, regardless of where they live.
鈥淐ovid-19 halved the value of education as an export, but we are well on our way back to reaching, and hopefully surpassing, the $40 billion mark we recorded in 2019.
鈥淣umbers aside, the powerful and far-reaching contributions students from over 144 countries make when they come to Australia enriches our social and cultural fabric. We need more of this.
鈥淚nternational education not only supports the economy, it helps Australia make important friends.
鈥淚n the last month alone, nearly 80,000 students have come to Australia 鈥 more than double the number who arrived in the same period last year.
鈥淲e have work to do, but the progress to date is good for universities, Australia and the economy more broadly.鈥
Ms Jackson praised the adaptability of Australia鈥檚 universities as they continued to educate students who remained offshore.
The delivery of online learning has grown the economy by nearly $12 billion over the last three years, in addition to the income generated by students on the ground.
鈥淟ike many parts of our economy, international education has faced a challenging couple of years 鈥 with travel restrictions and border closures plunging students and universities into periods of real uncertainty,鈥 Ms Jackson said.
鈥淯niversities swiftly responded to ensure that students abroad had online access to the world-class education they chose to pursue with an Australian university. This has clearly paid off.鈥
*The data includes education exports by correspondence 鈥 which is the fees paid to Australian institutions by students studying online in their home country.
