Rise of international student population in Australia
More international students coming into Australia
Australia has never ceased to be one of the top study destinations for international students from different parts of the world. Even with the understandable decline in its international student population during the lockdown, Australia’s reputation for first-class education has remained intact.
In the past few months, Australia’s international student body has been rapidly growing. According to Times Higher Education, its “mercurial international education industry has put the pandemic behind it, enticing more foreigners into the country than at any other time in its history. … [A]lmost 655,000 people were in Australia on temporary student visas at the end of July, up from 569,000 just a month earlier.”
This most recent figure surpasses a pre-pandemic peak back in September 2019, when 634,000 foreigners were in the country on various subclasses of student visas. This reflects a 29% increase compared to June 2022. Times Higher Education adds that the surge “follows nine consecutive record months of student visa processing, particularly in the higher education sector. Between November 2022 and July 2023 an average of 47,100 student visas were granted every month, 53 per cent of them for bachelor’s and master’s study.”
International student body demographics
Given the growing number of international students coming into Australia, it’s very interesting to see the diverse population being integrated into, contributing to and inevitably shaping the fabric of the nation. Erudera has provided insightful data from 2022 relevant to this.
Among all international students enrolled in higher education institutions in Australia, 49.6% are male and 50.4% are female. The most popular university among foreign students is RMIT University with 26,590 international students.
The region with the most international students is New South Wales, with a total of 244,193, followed by Victoria with 187,012 and then Queensland with 91,633. Meanwhile, according to the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, as of year to date (YTD) June 2023, the top sending countries are China (21%), India (16%), Nepal (9%), Colombia (5%) and Philippines (4%) – these five alone account for 55% of the international student pool in Australia.
With the Australian government fostering even more changes to streamline visa application processes, including of course student visas, we can predict that this increase in the number of international students will continue upward. To prepare to provide unparalleled support to our students, don’t forget to visit our platform and get in touch with our Business Development Managers today!