More than 125,000 international students were enrolled to study in New Zealand in 2015, bringing the Government's earnings from them more than $1 billion.
New figures released by Education New Zealand today show the industry grew 13 percent, with every region seeing increasing numbers.
In all, there were 125,011 international student enrolments - an overall increase of 14,748.
It was the first year money raised from tuition fees surpassed $1 billion, bringing in $1.029b - a 17 percent increase on 2014.
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce says the increased enrolments shows the efforts of the education sector are working.
"The benefits of international education extend well beyond the economic contribution to the economy.
"Young New Zealanders live and learn alongside people from other countries, increasing their understanding of other cultures and boosting our links with the world. These links are vital for us to prosper in an increasingly Asia-Pacific world," he says.
Half of all international students came from China and India, with a 13 percent (3881 people) and 45 percent (9013) increase, respectively. There was also an 83 percent (1648) jump in students from the Philippines.
The biggest drops in nationalities were from Korea, Saudi Arabia and Thailand.
The International Education Snapshot report says the decline in Korean students is part of a wider change in which many were opting to stay in Korea because of an "improved standard of education, available at a lower cost".
Most of those students were based in Auckland, though regions like Nelson/Tasman, Canterbury and Southland saw double-digit increases.
In terms of institutions, enrolments at universities were up 4 percent, institutes of technology or polytechnics increased by 23 percent, private training establishments (excluding English language schools) went up 29 percent and schools up 2 percent.
International education is New Zealand's fifth biggest export industry, supporting more than 30,000 jobs.
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