2006 Annual International Student Statistics
This page presents statistics for the 2006 annual data drawn from AEI's student enrolment database. Selected time-series statistics are also presented.
2006 International Student Enrolments
Growth in Australia’s international student enrolments continued during 2006. The latest AEI full year data show continuing steady growth in Australia’s international education market overall. During 2006 there were a total of 383,818 enrolments by full-fee paying international students in Australia. This represents an increase of 10.9% from 2005 and shows stronger growth than the 6.4% recorded between 2004 and 2005.
Sectors
The strongest enrolment growth in 2006 was in the vocational education and ELICOS sectors (25.7% and 19.2% respectively). This continued the growth experienced in both of these sectors during 2005. The higher education sector also grew by 5.2%, which is down on the 8.1% increase between 2004 and 2005. However, commencement growth (which basically measures new business) was at 4.9%, a marked improvement on the -0.2% experienced in 2005. Enrolments growth in the schools sector was negative (-1.7%), although this is also an improvement on the -8.0% growth in 2005. Commencements in the schools sector was 7.7%, the highest experienced since 2003.
Countries
Strong growth continues from India (41.9%), China (10.5%) and the Republic of Korea (18.8%). This continues the growth shown by these markets in the previous three years. This growth was slightly offset by falls in enrolments from other markets such as Indonesia (-6.7%), Singapore (-6.7%), Hong Kong (-3.8 %) and Malaysia (-1.0)%. These more traditional markets have now experienced successive years of negative growth. Thailand, another traditional market, has rebounded from earlier slowing of growth to record an 8.3% rise in enrolments.
Other markets which recorded strong enrolment growth in 2006 included Brazil (43.9%), the Middle East (35.7%), Vietnam (27.5%), Sri Lanka (31.6%), Canada (10.7%), Pakistan (38.2%) and Colombia (72.7%).
States and Territories
New South Wales and Victoria continue to attract most international student enrolments with two in three (67.4%) enrolments recorded in those states. These two states have also shown good growth in enrolments with 11.8% for New South Wales and 13.3% for Victoria. All other states and territories recorded growth between 2005 and 2006, with Queensland and South Australia in particular recording good growth of 8.7% and 14.1% respectively.
For more detailed state-specific information, refer to the State Summary Sheets section below.
Level of Study
The three levels of study which attracted the highest student enrolments in 2005 accounted for more than two-thirds of all student enrolments. They were Bachelor Degree (25.7% of all enrolments), Non-award (25.7%) and Masters Coursework (15.2%). Growth was also experienced with student enrolments rising by 3.0%, 13.9% and 7.8% respectively for each levels of study.
Although accounting for relatively smaller segments of the market, very strong growth in enrolments were recorded for the levels of study Diploma (20.2%) and Advanced Diploma (36.4%).
Broad Field of Study
One in four (26.9%) enrolments is in the field of Business Administration, Management and the field with the next highest level of enrolments is ELICOS with 20.3%. Both fields experienced good enrolment growth over 2005, with 11.2% and 18.8% respectively.
Other fields that experienced strong growth in 2006 were Services, Hospitality, Transport (60.1%), Health, Community Services (25.5%) and Nursing (35.4%).
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2006 Annual Pivot Table
Note: Items marked with (*) are available only to organisations who have access to AEI's Market Information Package (MIP). For non-MIP clients access arrangements are outlined in Accessing AEI Monthly Statistics.
|
2006 Basic Annual
Pivot Table
(zip 425kb) |
Includes the variables Sector, Nationality, State and Territory and Region for year-to-date enrolments and commencements for the years 2002 to 2006.
Warning - Unzipped file is approximately 366440kb. AEI advises that the pivot table is compatible with Excel 2003 or later. |
|
2006 Detailed
Annual Pivot Table
(zip 11800kb)(*) |
Includes those available in the Basic Pivot Table and also includes State and Territory, Field of Study, Level of Study, Region and Provider Type.
Warning - Unzipped file is approximately 134725kb. AEI advises that the pivot table is compatible with Excel 2003 or later. |
Also available is the Pivot Table User Guide (pdf 1650kb) which provides step-by-step instructions on how to use this resource. A sample data set (zip 5300kb) is available for use with this guide. For users with Microsoft Excel 2000 or earlier, please refer to the guide for further information and advice, or contact AEI.
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2006 Annual Tables
Detailed tables are available individually below, or as a complete set (pdf 98kb).
Table A: International Student Enrolments in Australia from Top 10 Source Countries, 2002 to 2006 (pdf 32kb)
Table B: Time Series of International Student Enrolments in Australia by Country, 2002 to 2006 (pdf 34kb)
Table C: Time Series of International Student Enrolments in Australia by State/Territory, 2002 to 2006 (pdf 28kb)
Table D: International Student Enrolments in Australia by Country and State/Territory, 2005 to 2006 (pdf 34kb)
Table E: Time Series of International Student Enrolments in Australia by Major Sector, 2002 to 2006 (pdf 27kb)
Table F: International Student Enrolments in Australia by Country and Major Sector, 2005 to 2006 (pdf 37kb)
Table G: International Student Enrolments in Australia by State/Territory and Major Sector, 2002 to 2006 (pdf 20kb)
The pivot table used to produce Tables A to G is included above. It contains the variables Sector, Nationality and Year, and refers to enrolments and commencements year-to-date December data.
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2006 State Summaries
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2006 Detailed Monthly Data
Detailed monthly tables of international student data, are available here.
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International Student Enrolments in Australia - 1994 to 2006
Introduction
International student enrolment annual statistics for 1994 to 2006 are summarised in the chart below. It shows sector level data for 1994 to 2006 and combines data from AEI's Overseas Student Statistics series and the Commonwealth Provider Register and International Student Management System (PRISMS). This chart should be used for indicative purposes only. Data for the periods 1994–2001 and 2002–06 are not comparable due to the different sources used to compile the data.
International Student Enrolments in Australia 1994 – 2006
Please select the image below to view the table and its data (pdf 24kb)
Note: there have been significant changes in methodology between 2001 and 2002.
1994 to 2001: Data were sourced from the DEST Higher Education Statistical Collection, CRICOS, the then Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs and AusAID.
From 2002: Onshore student data are derived from the Commonwealth Provider Registration and International Student Management System (PRISMS). The data show enrolments across all sectors for all students holding a student visa. These do not cover students on other visas, which in the case of ELICOS, involves a large number of students on tourist visas and, to a lesser extent, working holiday visas. As a general 'rule of thumb', for each ELICOS student on a student visa there is another on a non-student visa. For further information, please see Explanatory notes for AEI International Student Data.
The data do not cover offshore activity where Australian providers supply education services to foreign students overseas or by distance education where the student remains offshore. Data on offshore activity by Australian higher education institutions are available from the Higher Education Statistical Collection. Data on the Delivery of VET Offshore by Public Providers are available to MIP subscribers.
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