Australian Economy Immigration International Students

International students are adding to skills shortages

Thursday 27 August 2026

Below is a chart based on Education.gov.au data that shows the share of student enrolments by course:

As you can see, the most popular course choice for international students is commerce, which accounted for 34.3% of enrolments in 2024, compared with 14.2% of domestic enrolments.

Universities also like selling commerce degrees to international students because it scales easily, so they can offer many places. The costs of provision are also relatively low, allowing for juicy margins.

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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.