Australian students will take out $70.4 billion in loans by 2018, a research paper has found.

The University of New South Wales report found 26 per cent of people aged 18 to 54 were in debt to the government under the HECS-HELP program, The Daily Telegraph exclusively reported.

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They make up $50.3 billion of the total figure.

Of this, more than one-fifth – $13.5 billion – were considered unrecoverable in the current financial year, increasing to nearly $19 billion in 2017-18.

Two researchers, UNSW business school analysts Neil Warren and Richard Highfield, found many students were earning less than the threshold amount of $54,000 and took an average of 5.1 years to begin paying off their debt.

Further, those who did pay off their debt were taking much longer to do so.

The average debt is about $21,500, although some were claimed to owe as much at $400,000.

From July 2017, people earning an income overseas will be tracked down by Australian authorities to ensure they repay their debts.