International education has a considerable economic presence in Australia. This is most clearly seen in a comparison of export income data. For 2009, the ABS calculates that service exports attributable to Education‐related travel services were equal to around $18 billion. 12 This includes all expenditure attributable to international students in Australia, be it fees or living expenses. The Education‐related travel services sector is Australia’s third largest export industry, behind the bulk commodity export categories of Coal and Iron Ore & Concentrates (see Table 4). The sector’s exports were substantially larger than the next most prominent services sector, Personal Travel (excl. Education) services, which had total exports of around $ billion. Education‐related travel services exports accounted for per cent of all Australian exports of goods and services. .
