Immigration Minister David Coleman has announced he will maintain a sharp focus on international students, skilled migrants and increasing migration to regional Australia under the Morrison government.

“It stands to reason that the more skilled a migrant is, the better,” he said.

"When you strip down the ups and downs of the economic cycle, productivity is the thing that really matters. When you get more from your inputs, whatever they are, you create the wealth that leads to sustained increases in living standards."

In the 2019-20 year, the cap on Australia's annual migration intake has been reduced from 190,000 to 160,000, with skilled migration accounting for approximately 70 per cent.

Mr Coleman said international education was "extremely good for Australia" and would remain a key feature of the government's immigration policy.

Students coming to Australia for study are a $35 billion export industry and the largest driver of temporary migration to Australia, he said.

Comparatively, last year's total wheat exports were worth $4 billion and total beef exports $8.5 billion.

"The education sector supports high-skilled, high-wage jobs, the exact type of jobs we want to develop," he said.

To encourage more international students to study outside capital cities, an additional year will be offered to people on the post-graduate study visa for those who choose to live and work in regional areas.

More broadly, 23,000 places will be allocated to ensuring regional migration under two new visa categories that require migrants to live and work in regional Australia for three years in order to be eligible for permanent residency.