India drives unprecedented international student boom

Kevin You, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs, published research on the record boom in international students and temporary migrants.

Dr You noted that there were a record 111,740 net permanent and long-term arrivals into Australia in February 2025, a daily average of 3,991. “That’s approximately 3 arrivals a minute on a net basis”.

Net international student arrivals in February 2025 totalled 166,250, the highest monthly net arrival number on record, beating the previous record of 142,370 in February 2024.

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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.