Australia is considered as one of the top destinations for international students, and had a little over three million enrolments in first of half of 2017.
From January to June 2017, a grand total of 3,078,410 students enrolled* in different education sectors including higher education, vocational education and training (VET), schools, English language intensive course for overseas students (ELICOS), and non-award.
Top Contributors
According to Department of Education and Training, China is the biggest source of international students in Australia.
In all the sectors combined, 921,183 Chinese nationals secured enrolments in the first six months of this year. Other top contributors include:
India: 346,522
Malaysia: 133,715
Vietnam: 125,547
Nepal: 122,508
South Korea: 116,189
Thailand: 112,725
Brazil 110,895
As many as 66,323 Pakistani nationals secured enrolments in different education sectors in Australia in the first half of this year.
Higher Education
In terms of the higher education sector, China was the top contributor to the international student enrolments this year from January to June with 602,489 Chinese nationals enrolling. The rest is as follows:
India: 229,031
Nepal: 84,706
Malaysia: 74,603
Vietnam: 68,911
Pakistan: 49,861
Student Visa
The total number of students who were in Australia on a student visa in the first six months of 2017 was 510,348, showing growth of over 14 per cent. In the year 2016, the number of students on such visa was 554,179.
States and Territories
New South Wales had the highest number of students on student visa in the first half of this year with 192,332 students. This was followed by Victoria with 163,631 students, Queensland with 77,889 students, South Australia with 24,841, Western Australia with 35,033, ACT with 11,368, Tasmania with 5,432 students and Northern Territory with 1,849 students.
*The international student enrolment data generally does not represent the number of overseas students in Australia or the number of student visas issued in different countries. Instead data counts actual course enrolments. A student attending two different courses in the same reference period (for example ELICOS and Bachelor Degree) will have both enrolments counted. Students will be counted as enrolled in Australia even if they have left Australia temporarily for example during end of year holidays.
