APEC and International Education (January 2008)

Education is a fundamentally important economic activity. It is both large — accounting for around 6.7 per cent of GDP in APEC economies — and makes a crucial contribution to ongoing productivity and economic growth.

Cross border exchange of education services is an increasingly important means of delivering the quantity, quality and diversity of education services that fit the needs for modern growing economies.  All APEC economies are involved in cross border exchange to varying degrees. This exchange in all its modes of delivery — through the movement of students between economies or through the movement of provider or educators from one economy to another — has grown rapidly in APEC in recent years. This growth is expected to continue.