New Zealand’s international education export earnings reached $4.98 billion in the year to June 2026. That figure tops the pre-Covid year-to-June 2019 total of $4.403 billion, Education Minister Erica Stanford said.
Earnings climbed from $3.533 billion in the year to June 2024 and $4.295 billion in the year to June 2025. The two-year lift from the 2024 trough is about $1.45 billion.
Stanford said the sector is again among New Zealand’s most valuable export industries. She said the rebound puts the country ahead of schedule toward the Going for Growth ambition of $7.2 billion by 2034.
The recovery is a value story as much as a volume story. Headcount is still below the 2019 peak, yet dollars have already passed it.
Education New Zealand (ENZ) recorded 92,580 international student enrolments in 2025. That was up 11 percent from 83,425 in 2024 and about 80 percent of the pre-Covid peak near 115,700. The government said New Zealand is on track for about 99,000 students in 2026, still below 2019’s 115,705.
Stanford highlighted higher earnings per student. In 2019 about 116,000 students generated $4.4 billion. In 2026 roughly 99,000 students are on track for nearly $5 billion.
ENZ data show universities led the mix shift. University international enrolments rose 14 percent to 38,025 in 2025. School enrolments grew about 10 percent to 20,155. Times Higher Education reported universities’ share of all international students rose from 29 percent in 2019 to 41 percent in 2025, with university headcount above the 2019 peak.
Export Education Levy data reported by RNZ show foreign student tuition fee income hit a record $1.3 billion in 2025. That beat the previous high of about $1.2 billion in 2019 after a Covid trough of $483 million in 2022. Universities took $737 million of fees. Private tertiary institutes collected $192 million and polytechnics $153 million. Secondary schools took $158 million, still below their 2019 high of $178 million. Non-government-funded private providers, mainly English-language schools, took $54 million, far below a 2015 high of $187 million.
Full-time-equivalent foreign students were about 51,730 in 2025, below 61,575 in 2019. Higher fees and a university-heavy mix explain the gap between headcount and revenue.
ENZ cites average living spend of about $45,776 a year excluding tuition. That money flows into accommodation, retail, hospitality and transport. Auckland hosted about 55 percent of students in 2025, or roughly 55,910 enrolments, up 14 percent on the year, 1News reported from ENZ figures. Canterbury and Waikato posted strong percentage growth.
China accounted for 34 percent of 2025 enrolments and India 14 percent, ENZ said. Japan followed at 9 percent. Concentration remains a structural risk for university balance sheets and services exports. Times Higher Education noted Chinese students made up about 47 percent of university international enrolments.
In a highly competitive global market, New Zealand’s high-quality education providers, great student experience and strong graduate outcomes are the factors that most influence student choice
ENZ Acting Chief Executive Dr Linda Sissons said those factors drive student choice. She also flagged growth in Sri Lanka and Nepal within ENZ’s market prioritisation for 2026/27.
Stats NZ education-related travel credits underpin the export narrative. ENZ cited $4.52 billion for the year ended September 2025, or 13.6 percent of services exports, ranking international education among the top 10 exports. Parallel Tourism Satellite Account figures for students studying less than 12 months were $4.0 billion in the year ended March 2025.
Policy settings under the July 2025 Going for Growth plan include lifting in-study work rights from 20 to 25 hours from November 2025. Targets include 105,000 enrolments by 2027 and 119,000 by 2034, alongside the $7.2 billion earnings ambition. ENZ’s brand survey found 22 percent of prospective students already place New Zealand in their top three destinations.
Australia’s education export income was almost A$55.0 billion in calendar 2025, according to the Australian Department of Education. New Zealand’s smaller absolute scale makes diversification and capacity constraints more binding if China or India flows soften.
For households and local firms, higher student living spend supports cafes, shops, rentals and transport, especially in Auckland. For universities, full-fee international revenue is a critical offset where domestic delivery is often loss-making on a full-cost basis, TEC advice has noted.
Hitting $7.2 billion by 2034 will require sustained value per student, broader source markets, and housing and teaching capacity that can absorb growth without crowding out locals. The 2024–26 rebound shows the mix can lift earnings faster than headcount. The next test is whether that productivity holds as volumes push toward 105,000 and beyond.
