Education in financial year 2022/23 was Australia’s fourth largest export behind Coal, Iron Ore and Natural Gas, more valuable than Gold.
Australia’s Top Exports 2022/23 ($ millions)
After the value of Education as an export for Australia nearly halved, from $37.555 billion in 2018/19 to $20.776 billion in 2021/22, the value bounced back to $36.4 billion in 2022/23, up 75% from a year earlier, and just 3% lower than the pre-pandemic peak in 2018/19.
In those same years, the value of Tourism as an export for Australia fell more sharply, from $22.451 billion in 2018/19 to $0.363 billion in 2020/21, then rose to $14.350 billion in 2022/23.
Education and Tourism as Exports: 1998/99 to 2022/23 ($ millions)
As noted above, Education in 2022/23 is Australia’s fourth largest export, behind Coal, Iron Ore and Natural Gas. George Megalogenis in 2012 depicted Australia as a quarry with a view, a minerals rich continent with a physical environment attractive to international tourists. Perhaps Australia in 2024 is a quarry with a campus.
Education as an Export: Australia, States and Territories 2022/23
| 2022/23 | Rank | |
|---|---|---|
| $ billions | ||
| NSW | 13.124 | 2 |
| Victoria | 11.489 | 1 |
| Queensland | 5.257 | 3 |
| South Australia | 2.477 | 2 |
| Western Australia | 2.372 | 10 |
| Tasmania | 0.421 | 4 |
| Northern Territory | 0.183 | 7 |
| ACT | 1.100 | 1 |
| Australia | 36.423 | 4 |
In the table above, Education in 2022/23 was Australia’s fourth largest export. Education in 2022/23 was the second largest export for NSW, the largest export for Victoria, the third largest export for Queensland, the second largest export for South Australia and the largest export for ACT.
All export figures in this paper have been derived from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Services exports are from https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/international-trade/international-trade-supplementary-information-financial-year/2022-23, released in December 2023, and goods exports from customisation of https://explore.data.abs.gov.au/.
Strategy and Policy are guided by Research in Education.
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