The number of international students studying in Australia grew by 15 per cent in the first three months of this year, new figures show.
According to statistics recently released by Australia’s Department of Education and Training, there were approximately 480,092 international students enrolled in Australian institutions in March 2017. Of these, around 280,000 were university students.
“We know that international students are attracted to Australia by the excellent quality of the education we provide and the calibre of both teaching and research here,” said Belinda Robinson, chief executive of Universities Australia.
Asia continues to be the main source region of overseas students in Oz. Around 30 per cent of all Australia’s international students were from China, while 11 per cent were from India, with Malaysia, Vietnam and Nepal accounting for 4 per cent.
The number of Chinese students rose by rising by 20,000 to 140,000 (17 per cent) between March 2016 and March 2017. This was the highest rise in overseas students from any country.
Separate data released by Universities Australia highlights the huge contribution that international students make to the economies of each Australian state and territory.
International education contributes AUS$8 billion annually to New South Wales, AUS$7 billion to Victoria, AUS$3.2 billion to Queensland, AUS$1.5 billion to Western Australia, and AUS$1.1 billion to South Australia.
Article published 6th June 2017