According to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 28,030 international students arrived in Australia in January 2022, an increase from 27,670 students who arrived in the same month the previous year.
At the beginning of February, the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services, and Multicultural Affairs, Alex Hawke, stated that Australia is welcoming a growing number of overseas students, backpackers, and skilled migrants back to the country.
As an example, Hawke noted that there are more work opportunities present in Australia today than there were prior to the pandemic, and that there are more places available for backpackers and students as well.
According to Minister Hawke, “there are more jobs available in Australia now than there were before the COVID-19-Pandemic, and there are still many more places open to Backpackers and Students that we are eager to fill, so come on down.”
Since the beginning of November 2021, a total of 56,000 overseas students have arrived in Australia. Approximately 7,000 international students returned to Australia from the 24th to the 30th of January.
“For the period January 2022 to December 2022, the overall number of overseas students in Australia was 355,627.” According to the government’s website, “there was a change of -21 percent compared to the same period last year.”
Since the beginning of 2022, there has been a significant increase in the demand for Australian study visas, owing to the education department committing greater resources to the processing of foreign student visas.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian economy suffered substantially as a result of a dearth of international students studying in the country. According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on foreign commerce for the December quarter, the contribution of overseas education to the Australian economy has decreased by nearly half, from $40.3 billion in 2019 to $22.5 billion in 2021.
Leading Australian institutions have recently declared their support for international students who have been affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, declaring that they will provide counselling and other aid measures to international students affected by the Russian invasion.