Table — Exchange students between European universities and Australia, 2005-2023

The table shows how many exchange students travelled from European universities to Australia, and from Australia to Europe, in five selected years between 2005 and 2023.

Overall, student exchange grew substantially in both directions over the period, although the figures slumped sharply in 2020 before recovering. Europeans travelling to Australia consistently outnumbered those making the journey the other way.

The flow from Europe to Australia was always the larger of the two. It rose from 2,140 students in 2005 to 3,480 in 2010 and 5,120 in 2015, then fell by more than a third to 3,260 in 2020. The figure recovered strongly thereafter, reaching an all-time high of 6,050 in 2023, almost three times the number recorded at the start.

Australian students going to Europe followed the same shape but on a much smaller scale, edging up from 1,760 to 2,240 between 2005 and 2015 before dropping to just 1,180 in 2020, the lowest figure in the table. By 2023 numbers had climbed to 2,910. Total exchanges therefore more than doubled across the period, from 3,900 to 8,960, with Europe sending roughly twice as many students as it received in the final year.