Australia boasts one of the world’s most competitive and renowned higher education systems, with international students increasingly attracted to the country’s high quality institutions.
The OECD’s Education at a Glance 2008 indicates that Australia is home to the highest proportion of international students in tertiary enrolments in the OECD and among the top five for the absolute number of international students. Furthermore, the IMD recently ranked Australia first in the world for inbound student mobility, measured as the number of foreign students per 1000 inhabitants, in the World Competitiveness Yearbook 2009.
Sydney was recently ranked the sixth best city in the world to get a degree by A.T. Kearney’s Global Cities Index. In 2008, more than 358,000 international students were studying at Australian higher education institutions (including universities and vocational training institutes), with over 143,000, or 40% of them, enrolled in New South Wales higher education institutions.
Australia's enviable quality of life, pleasant climate, secure environment and comparatively low living and educational costs contribute to its competitiveness as a regional centre for education.
The countries providing the largest numbers of overseas higher education students (university and vocational institute students) to Australia include India, China, Malaysia, Nepal, South Korea, Hong Kong SAR and Thailand. A 2007 IDP Education Australia Limited report predicts international demand for Australian higher education will increase by around 80% by 2025, with China, India, Malaysia and Indonesia becoming the largest markets.