International student monthly summary and data tables

Key points

• In the YTD February 2026, 622,043 international students studied in Australia, a 7.7 per cent decline on the same period in 2025. The number of new students, studying in Australia in 2026 (54,245) decline by 5.6 per cent on the same period in 2025.
• Many international students study more than one course in a reported year. Hence, in the YTD February 2026 there were 655,204 international student enrolments, a 7.3 per cent decline in enrolments on the same period in 2025. The number of commencements (120,746) declined by 5.7 per cent.
• The Higher Education sector still had growth in enrolments on the same period in 2025 (3%), while all other sectors showed declines, notably ELICOS (31%).
• Fifty-eight per cent of international students were from the following five student source countries: China (24% of international students), India (16%), Nepal (9%), Vietnam (5%) and Bangladesh (4%).
• The most popular Field of Education in Higher Education was Management and Commerce followed by Information Technology, while in VET it was Management and Commerce followed by Architecture and Building.
• In YTD February 2026, the most popular Level of Study in Higher Education was Masters degree by coursework (42% of total) followed by Bachelors degree (41%), while in VET it was Diploma (34%) followed by Certificate III (23%).

Note: The February data should be interpreted with caution as most higher education and vocational education and training (VET) commencements for first semester typically take place in March each year.

Considerations for interpreting this data

• International student data is published in monthly year-to-date (YTD) and annual calendar year formats based on monthly snapshots of Provider Registration and International Student Management System (PRISMS). Snapshots are used to avoid slight variations in data across different extract dates as PRISMS is a live system and is constantly updated.
• Monthly YTD data for the current reporting year is available in the monthly summary (PDF) and the monthly YTD data tables.
• Student numbers is a count of individuals that have studied within the reference period on a student visa.
• Enrolment numbers is a count of a student's enrolment within the reference period. If a student does multiple courses during the reference period, the enrolments will each be counted.
• Further information is available in the explanatory notes for data relating to international students studying in Australia.