Australia’s fake international education ‘exports’ halve

Last week, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its December trade data, which showed that education exports have nearly halved from a peak of $40.3 billion in the 2019 calendar year to $22.5 billion in the 2021 calendar year:

These education “exports” are comprised of goods & services spending by international students (60% share) and tuition fees paid by international students (40%):

This ‘collapse’ in export earnings was quoted widely in the media and used as ammunition to argue that policy makers need to do more to entice students back into Australia above those already offered by the Morrison Government, including: