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Canterbury benefiting from boost in international students

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Fri, 2 Nov 2018, 6:28AM
(Photo / Getty Images)
(Photo / Getty Images)

Canterbury benefiting from boost in international students

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Fri, 2 Nov 2018, 6:28AM

New figures reveal the extent to which international students are benefiting the country.

They show the number of international students heading to Canterbury has grown by 62 percent since 2016, boosting the local economy by $470 million.

They spent $440 million on tuition and living costs and $30 million on tourism in the last year.

Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Leeann Watson said they are essential to our economy.

"International education has always been a key part of the Canterbury region, so it is a very strong contributor to the economic vitality of the city and of the region."

Watson said we are reliant on them to contribute to our economy.

"But we are also reliant on them in terms of the future workforce. There has been a prediction that in Canterbury alone, we will be 70,000 people short for our growing economy."

In Wellington, international students contributed $410 million to the capital's economy last year, double the figure from 2016.

Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive John Milford said despite this, Wellington only got six percent of international students coming to the country.

"We should be doing better than that. I think there's an opportunity to at least double the international students, but I also think there is an opportunity for Wellington to be an educating city, a student city."

Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive John Milford says they benefit not just the universities but the region as a whole by doing things like creating more than 3,000 local jobs.

International education is the country's fourth-largest export earner - valued at $5.1 billion.

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