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Int'l education earns Australia 17.6 bln AU dollars in 2014

Xinhua, June 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Australia's international education services sector earned export income of 17.6 billion AU dollars (13.6 billion U.S. dollars) in 2014, reaching a record high, the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data showed Monday.

It was an increase of 14 percent on calendar year 2013 and an increase of seven percent from the last reported earnings in financial year 2013?14.

Minister for Education and Training Christopher Pyne said that the figures eclipsed the previous peak of 16.7 billion (12.9 billion U.S. dollars) in calendar year 2009.

He blamed the mishandling of visas under the previous Labor government for the drop of income after 2009. "I'm delighted with these new figures because they show our booming international education sector is recovering and going from strength to strength under the Coalition," Pyne said.

Roughly 600 million AU dollars (465.9 million U.S. dollars) of the 17.6 billion figure were generated from a range of international education services delivered by Australian providers offshore.

The remaining 17 billion came from the nearly 600,000 enrolments by full fee-paying international students in Australia last year. International students in the higher education sector generated 11.7 billion (9 billion U.S. dollars) in export income.

These figures confirm international education as Australia's largest services export and its fourth largest export overall after iron ore, coal and natural gas.

He said international education is a major employer, supporting around 130,000 jobs across Australia. "We will ensure the international education sector continues to be a major contributor to the strength and status of the Australian economy," Pyne said. Endite