Mark Twain famously popularised the saying, ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.’ Here he referred to the persuasive power of statistics to bolster weak arguments.
The claim that Australia’s annual international education export was valued at $48 billion in 2023 is one such statistic.
New research from the Institute of Public Affairs has recently called into question this figure and its role in justifying the massive increase in international student numbers seen in recent years, putting the value of the sector closer to $31 billion.
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