Key figures: 10 years of mobility

Over ten years: increased competition to attract international students

Over the last ten years, the global student population increased by 30%, while the number of mobile students grew twice as fast (5.6 million students in mobility in 2018, i.e. 2.3% of the student population). English-speaking countries confirm their leadership in terms of student hosting worldwide, but the US (ranked 1st), and the UK (ranked 2nd), don’t show an increase as steep over the last years, in opposition to Australia (ranked 3rd) and Canada (ranked 7th), which register significant development. However, these changes where registered by the Unesco for the years 2009-2018, and such trends may be contradicted by the health crisis and major influencing events such as the Brexit.

As the first region of destination, and second region of origin of international students, Europe is a hub of mobilities. European universities built in the common area (of which France is one of the pillars), and the joint degrees provide a renewed offer.

The Asia-Oceania region strengthened its position as first region of origin of mobile students worldwide, especially through steep growth of populations from China (+87%) and India (+82%), but also Vietnam (+149%), a country joining the 4th rank after Germany. Africa is also a continent of the future for student mobility: sub-Saharan students represent only 4% of the world’s student population but 8% of mobile students, and this share should continue to increase in the coming years. With 12% of these students hosted in France, the country is their first destination, ahead of the United States, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

France: clear increase of student intake and rise in the rankings

In ten years, the number of foreign students in France has increased by 28%. All the main types of institution have seen the number of foreign students increase over the decade. Business schools, engineering schools and higher education courses in secondary schools have seen particularly strong growth (+169%, +120% and +122% respectively). In universities, the most important growth had already taken place the previous decade (+70% over 20 years). In the same period, French institutions have significantly improved their position in international university rankings: France is now present in the top positions in the Shanghai and Times Higher Education rankings. Finally, French students constitute the sixth largest group of international students, with almost 100,000 students in outward mobility in 2018, i.e. almost double in ten years (+87%).

Download the publication:10 years of mobility in key figures

With this look back on the last 10 years, this study provides key facts to think about current and next changes, and to improve the place of France in the heart of mobilities.