Education exports worth $18.1 billion

Preliminary figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that exports from Australia’s international education services sector reached a record high of $18.1 billion in 2014-15.

Minister for Education and Training, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP, said the figures show that Australia’s booming international education sector continues to go from strength to strength.

“I’m delighted with these figures, which are up 14.2 per cent on the $15.9 billion recorded for the 2013-14 financial year and are a real boost to the Australian economy,” Mr Pyne said.

“These figures confirm once again that international education remains Australia’s largest services export and our fourth largest export overall after iron ore, coal and natural gas,” Mr Pyne said.

“They also underline the importance of our work to develop a national strategy for international education. I’m looking forward to further robust discussions on the strategy with education and business experts, students, and community representatives at the Roundtable on International Education at Parliament House next week.

“International education is a major employer – the sector supports around 130,000 Australian jobs across our cities and regions.

“The Government will continue to work to ensure that international education continues to be a major contributor to the growing strength of the Australian economy and job creation well into the future.”

Details of the latest international education export figures are available at: International Trade in Goods and Services, Australia, June 2015 (ABS)