The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) yesterday released international student arrivals data for March, which registered a sharp fall.
As shown in the next chart, annual international student arrivals have fallen 9.7% (60,400) from January’s peak, from 621,500 to 561,100:
This heavy fall in student arrivals has obviously been caused by COVID-19 travel bans, which were first implemented on China in February and then extended to all nations in late-March.
The impact of these travel restrictions is illustrated clearly by the next chart showing the collapse in visitor arrivals from China, which is Australia’s biggest source of international students:
International student arrivals are likely to continue plummeting in the months ahead as the global travel ban spreads to other markets, such as India, which has yet to record falls (see above chart).
