Spending by international students accounted for more than half of Australia’s economic growth in 2023, according to new research warning that a sharp increase in visa refusal rates will be a headwind to growth this year.
GDP growth slumped to an annual rate of 1.5 per cent in December 2023, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said this week, as non-essential spending and home building activity contracted in response to the fastest interest rate tightening cycle in decades.
Analysis of the national accounts figures by economists at NAB found education exports, which captures spending by international students living in Australia, was equivalent to 0.8 percentage points of annual GDP growth, or more than half the 1.5 per cent annual rate in December.
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