Analysis of recent government data on international student numbers.
Despite the media hype, it’s clear that international student numbers are starting to revert to the long-term average, after the post-pandemic spike in 2023 (students could not come to Australia at all during the pandemic years of 2020-22).
Government figures indicate that as of July 2024, there are just under a million students (943,977) in Australia, and about half are in the university sector. VET makes up another large chunk, with more than 300,000 students. Both sectors saw increases from 2023, and both in excess (though not by much) of the last pre-pandemic year of 2019.
However, students in these courses are generally in Australia for several years, and so the large arrivals of 2023 will leave a long tail in regard to overall numbers for the next few years, at least. It follows, then, that the overall numbers are a bit misleading, as they include students who are already here.
Meanwhile, ELICOS numbers remained pretty stable in comparison, with just over 111,000 students overall, down a little on last year, and only a little higher than the 2019 figure.
All of this suggests a fairly robust sector – but the next few years might not be quite so rosy, with new visa approvals down some 30 per cent in the first few months of this year.
It seems government policy is having an effect, although the post-pandemic sugar hit the sector has enjoyed has now largely washed through.
More information:
- International Student Data: July Year-to-Date
- Australian Government Department of Education – International student monthly summary and data tables
This update is part of the October 2024 edition of Future Perfect enewsletter.
You can read past editions of Future Perfect on our enews homepage or stay across all our updates on LinkedIn.
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