Overview
This release provides detail on spending by international students in New Zealand. This spending forms part of the exports of travel services component in the Balance of Payments and the expenditure measure of Gross Domestic Product.
Travel exports (spending by visitors to New Zealand) were valued at $6,954 million for the year ended March 2009 and accounted for 12.3 percent of total exports of goods and services. Estimated spending by international students contributed $1,335 million, or 19.2 percent of travel exports. Spending by international students is made up of expenditure by international students studying at primary and secondary schools and for formal tertiary qualifications, as well as students studying at English language schools.
Total expenditure by international students
The estimated total value of expenditure by all international students studying in New Zealand was $1,335 million for the year ended March 2009. This compares with the revised value of $1,464 million for the year ended March 2008. These figures will be further revised and published in the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position: June 2009 quarter on 22 September 2009. According to the English Language Providers (ELP) survey, total expenditure by students studying at English language schools increased $41 million in the March 2009 year. This publication focuses on the data gathered from the ELP survey.
Results from the English Language Providers survey
During the March 2009 year, 36,990 international students were enrolled in English language schools in New Zealand. These schools earned $142 million in tuition and related fees during the year. The number of students dropped 6.8 percent in the year ended March 2009 compared with the year ended March 2008. This followed an increase of 5.1 percent between the March 2007 and March 2008 years. Despite the fall in student numbers, income earned from tuition and related fees increased $20.7 million (17.1 percent) in the March 2009 year compared with the March 2008 year.
Spending on English language tuition by Saudi Arabian students has increased every year since March 2003, from $0.6 million for the year ended March 2003 to $23 million for the year ended March 2009.
On average, students enrolled in longer courses in the March 2009 year than in the previous year. An increase in the average length of study was the main contributor to the increase in tuition revenue reported and it more than offset the decrease in student numbers.
Expenditure by international students at English language schools
Total expenditure by international students studying at English language schools includes expenditure on tuition and accommodation sourced from the ELP survey. The calculation of total expenditure also includes an estimate for other expenditure (such as living costs) derived from figures supplied by English language tuition providers. The total estimate for expenditure by international students studying at English language schools was $284 million in the March 2009 year, an increase of $41 million from the March 2008 year. Revenue from tuition and related fees increased 17.1 percent in the March 2009 year, while revenue from accommodation provision increased 22.7 percent.
Revenue from English language tuition
Despite a fall in student numbers, revenue from English language tuition increased from $121 million for the March 2008 year to $142 million for the March 2009 year. Revenue from tuition and related fees has increased since the March 2006 year, but remains 44.9 percent lower than the peak of $258 million in the March 2003 year. The increase in expenditure on tuition and related fees between the March 2008 and March 2009 years was mainly due to a $13 million (137.2 percent) increase in expenditure by Saudi Arabian students.
Saudi Arabia surpassed Japan as the third largest contributor to English language tuition expenditure in March 2009. Both the number of students from Saudi Arabia and their average length of study increased from the March 2008 year. In the March 2009 year, average expenditure per week for Saudi Arabian students was $399, compared with $296 for students from South Korea and $293 for students from the People's Republic of China.
Students from China made the other significant contribution to the increase in tuition revenue; their expenditure increased $7.5 million (31.8 percent). Tuition and related fees received from Chinese students ($31.1 million) surpassed that of students from South Korea ($29.5 million) and is now the highest for all countries in the March 2009 year. The increase in total tuition revenue in the March 2009 year was partly offset by a $2.1 million (35.9 percent) decrease in revenue received from Taiwanese students.
Student numbers
The number of international students enrolled in English language courses in New Zealand during the March 2009 year was 36,990, down 6.8 percent from the previous March year. This follows an increase of 5.1 percent in the March 2008 year. A fall of 2,633 (28.1 percent) in the number of Japanese students enrolled in English language courses during March 2009 was the major contributor to the fall in total student numbers. There were also 620 fewer South Korean students in March 2009 year compared with March 2008 year. These falls were consistent with the drop in total short-term visitor numbers from Japan and South Korea during the year. These falls were partly offset by increases in the number of Chinese (up 27.7 percent) and Saudi Arabian students (up 43 percent).
Student weeks
Total weeks studied by all students increased 14.2 percent from the March 2008 year to the March 2009 year. This increase drove the overall increase in tuition and related fees during the March 2009 year. The largest increases in the number of weeks studied were recorded for students from Saudi Arabia (up 28,018 or 98.3 percent) and China (up 24,165 or 29.4 percent). The largest decrease in weeks studied was for students from Taiwan and was partly due to a fall in student numbers from that country.
The average length of study for English language courses in the March 2009 year was 12 weeks. This compares with an average length of 10 weeks in March 2008. On average, Chinese students studied for the longest period of time (17.7 weeks) and Japanese students studied for the shortest period of time (8.8 weeks).The average length of study for Saudi Arabian students was 15.4 weeks during the year ended March 2009.
English language provider accommodation provision
Accommodation revenue collected in the ELP survey only includes revenue for accommodation provided or arranged by English language schools. For the year ended March 2009, English language provider accommodation revenue was $41 million, an increase of $8 million (22.7 percent) from the previous year. The largest increase in accommodation expenditure was by students from South Korea, up $2.6 million (62.2 percent). Students from China and Saudi Arabia also increased their spending on accommodation by $2.5 million (46.5 percent) and $1.6 million (53.5 percent) respectively, during March 2009.
Data sources
Two main data sources are used to estimate spending by international students in New Zealand:
The survey of English Language Providers (ELP) is an annual survey that collects information from English language schools on expenditure by non-resident students studying in New Zealand.
Estimated spending by international students studying at primary and secondary schools, and in formal tertiary courses, is calculated using enrolment numbers from the Ministry of Education. Data on student enrolments at these institutions is provided using Full-time Equivalent (FTE) student numbers for the year ended 31 December 2008. This data is used as an approximation for the year ended March 2009 figures, as it is the most recent data available.
The estimated total value of expenditure by all international students studying in New Zealand reported in this publication will be revised and published in the June 2009 quarter release of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position statistics (22 September 2009).
For technical information contact:
Shyama Chandrasena
Wellington 04 931 4571
Email: info@stats.govt.nz