Europe Continues to Be Most Popular Study Destination in the World, Report Finds

The European Union remains the most attractive study destination and the second region sending most students abroad, the 2022 edition of Campus France’s “Key Figures” has revealed.

The report highlights the 2019 figures from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on student mobility around the world which explain the situation of mobile students before the COVID-19 outbreak, Brexit, and the war in Ukraine, Erudera.com reports.

According to data, there were more than six million students worldwide in 2019, with China, India, and Vietnam being the top three countries of origin of mobile students. The number of mobility students exceeded six million for the first time ever, marking an increase of 35 percent in five years, with the EU remaining the top study destination and second most common region of origin for students.

The countries that hosted more students were the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, Canada, and France.

The top three host countries on the continent were the United Kingdom which back in 2019 was part of the European Union, Germany, and France.

“If 2022 ends up being the year of mobility’s return, it will do so in a form largely shaped by the unprecedented crises that have occurred since 2020,” the report suggests.

The same suggests that the war in Ukraine might affect the position of Russia as the fifth host country and might also affect the number of students from Africa who were staying in Ukraine amid the war.

As per the EU students in the United Kingdom, Campus France explains that Brexit and higher education fees are forcing these students to leave the UK.

Among the leading countries of origin, France surpassed 100,000 outbound students for the first time and placed fifth, after China, India, Vietnam, and Germany.

In 2020/21, France welcomed a total of 365,000 international students, with Morocco being the largest sending country of international students.

In 2019, nearly nine in 10 European students who pursued studies in another country stayed on the continent. Europe hosted 46 percent of mobile students from the world.

Recently, the Delegation of the European Union to Nepal announced that 60 Nepali students won Erasmus+ scholarships for the 2022/24 academic year. The number of students from Nepal studying in Europe increased compared to the previous year when 49 students won Erasmus scholarships.

Similarly, under Erasmus, about 151 students from Bangladesh will be studying in Europe.

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