Yesterday we received our first hard data on the number of Chinese international students that are stuck outside of Australia and currently unable to commence their studies in Australia:
Australian Department of Education figures released on Tuesday show more than 106,680 Chinese international students with visas to study at universities and schools remain stuck outside Australia – 56 per cent of the entire cohort.
Recall that Chinese international students accounted for one-third ($12.1 billion) of Australia’s total $37.6 billion education ‘exports’ in 2019, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics:
The travel ban on those whom arrived from or passed through mainland China within the previous 14 days is scheduled to be reviewed on 15 February.
If the coronavirus is not contained, and the ban remains in place, the Australian economy could be looking at a $6 billion-plus hit from the loss of education ‘exports’ based on the above figures.
This would come on top of further billions in lost earnings from cancelled Chinese holidaymakers, who were Australia’s largest source of tourists in 2019, accounting for 15% of total visitor arrivals:
Health Minister Greg Hunt on Tuesday indicated that the two-week travel ban would be extended “subject to the arc of the virus”.
Thus, it appears likely that the education and tourism industries are facing heavy losses.
This is what happens when you allow your economy to be so heavily dependent on a single trading nation.
