Australia must slash international student numbers

The AFR’s education editor, Julie Hare, published an alarmist article on the tiny reduction in international student enrolments, which she labelled a “plunge”.

The Department of Education data showed that there were 925,905 total international student enrolments in the year to July 2025, down a tiny 1.1% from last year’s record high of 936,348 enrolments.

However, enrolments over the first seven months of 2025 were up a hefty 14.9% from the pre-pandemic peak of 805,554 enrolments in 2019.

The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers

$1 for your first month, then:

$24.99 / month

$249 / year

Cancel at any time through our billing provider, Stripe

Share

About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.