Advocates and opponents talk the value of the HE industry up and down, but the Australian Bureau of Statistics sets everybody straight.
In the last financial year, international students in Australia spent $50.5bn on study costs and living expenses.
It is not as much as it sounds. For a start, the ABS counts all of it as export income even though around $14.5bn comes from Australian employers paying internationals for work here. According to the Bureau, this is in line with International Monetary Fund rules for determining BOP’s.
And even though students are here for years, their spending is covered by the balance of payments, because it is assumed they intend to go home. This changes if they switch residence status. But while they are not here economically, they are physically being counted in population stats.
While the ABS does not mention the argument that international ed export income is inflated, it does acknowledge that the numbers would be “substantially lower” if students were treated as residents and their earnings and spending went into the local stats. But it’s an academic argument; the IMF would have to change definitions and this is not on the agenda for next year’s update.
In addition to all the money they kick in, international students are a vast labour force, making up 87% of non-residents eligible to work.
As to what Australians spend studying offshore – it’s a rounding error in comparison – just $500m.
