Major flows of international student mobility 2021

According to UNESCO, around 6.4 million students were enrolled outside their home country in 2021, as in the previous year. Due to the pandemic, the number of students studying abroad increased only slightly by around 11,000.

The largest flows of international student mobility are from China, by far the most important country of origin, to the host countries of the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, and from India, the second most important country of origin, to the United States and Canada. In total, about 996,000 students from China and 508,000 Indian students were enrolled in higher education institutions abroad in 2021. This alone accounts for 16% and 8% of all mobile students abroad worldwide, respectively.

Approximately 302,000 Chinese students were enrolled in higher education institutions in the US alone in the 2021 academic year. This figure represents 6% of global student mobility. Compared to the previous year, however, it has fallen by 1%. Around 163,000 Chinese students were recorded by UNESCO in the UK in 2021 (+1%), around 102,000 in Australia (-26%), and around 109,000 Indian students in the US (-15%) and around 94,000 in Canada (-1%).

Within Europe, the principal student flows are from Germany to Austria (34,000, +12%) and the Netherlands (24,000, +/– 0%), from Ukraine to Poland (31,000, +14%), from Slovakia to Czechia (22,000, +1%), from France to Belgium (19,000, +5%), from Austria to Germany (16,000, +12%) and from Cyprus to Greece (15,000, +9%).