How is International Student Mobility Shaping Up?

Between 2000 and 2011, the number of international students has more than doubled. Today, almost 4.5 million tertiary students are enrolled outside their country of citizenship. The largest numbers of international students are from China, India and Korea. Asian students account for 53% of all students studying abroad worldwide. New players have emerged on the international education market in the past decades, such as Australia, New Zealand, Spain, the Russian Federation and, more recently, Korea. By contrast, the share of international students in some of the most attractive countries – Germany and the United States, for instance – has declined. As countries increasingly benefit from student mobility, the competition to attract and retain students has diversified the map of destinations over the past decade.