Students help temporary visa holders soar towards 2 million: Pete Wargent

There has been a lot of misleading commentary about population growth dropping off a cliff, and so on.

 

It really isn't, but the composition of growth is sure changing.

 

I explained here back in 2015 why international students would be the key driver of growth going forward.

It's a key reason why so many bloggers and analysts got their supply and demand ratios so muddled last year, particularly in Melbourne where population growth broke all known records in 2016, but also in Sydney, and to a much lesser extent Brisbane. 

 

The latest figures from the DIBP confirmed a walloping increase of 90,380 temporary visa holders over the year to September 2016, with a crunching increase in student visa holders of 45,070 over the year.

 

Remember many international students are expected to go to secure Australian residency through other visa classes.

 

There was also a massive 51.4 per cent increase in temporary graduate visa holders, easily eclipsing the relatively small decline in skilled 457 visas (that form the basis of most doomsday scenarios).

 

By far the greatest number of temporary visa holders were Kiwis on the visa subclass 444, increasing by 2.3 per cent to 677,030, dispelling the narrative that all Kiwis are heading home.

Total temporary entrants will rise towards 2.1 million by the end of 2017.

 

Most international students head to institutions in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane - in that order.

 

As expected, the insatiable demand from international students will keep on keeping on, delivering a substantial boost for population growth in those three capital cities through 2016 and beyond.

 

PETE WARGENT is the co-founder of AllenWargent property buyers (London, Sydney) and a best-selling author and blogger.