Foreign students are saving the economy

Spending by international students accounted for more than half of Australia’s economic growth in 2023, according to new research warning that a sharp increase in visa refusal rates will be a headwind to growth this year.

GDP growth slumped to an annual rate of 1.5 per cent in December 2023, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said this week, as non-essential spending and home building activity contracted in response to the fastest interest rate tightening cycle in decades.