Australia has lost more than 100,000 foreign students in the past financial year at a cost of nearly $6bn to the economy, with higher education leaders warning that the sector will not recover from any further Covid-19 induced delays.
New federal government data seen by The Australian shows there are more than 472,000 holders of Australian student visas, including those inside and outside the country, compared to more than 595,000 at the same time in 2020.
Overall commencements at Australian universities by foreign students have fallen 35 per cent from their peak in 2019, and 21.8 per cent in the year to April.