Net flow of internationally mobile students (inbound - outbound), both sexes (number) by country

Number of tertiary students from abroad (inbound students) studying in a given country minus the number of students at the same level from a given country studying abroad (outbound students).

Countries reporting

135

Highest

902,965 number

United States

Lowest

-815,096 number

China

Median

-1,750 number

Years covered

1998–2018

Data points

1,866

What the numbers show

Net flow of internationally mobile students (inbound - outbound), both sexes (number) is currently reported for 135 countries. The highest value is 902,965 number in United States; the lowest is -815,096 number in China.

The median across all reporting countries is -1,750 number, and the mean is 9,507 number.

Over the past decade 66 countries rose and 65 fell. The largest increase was in Denmark (up 1,935.2%), and the largest decrease in Burundi (down 11,207.1%).

Net flow of internationally mobile students (inbound - outbound), both: full country ranking

#	Country	Latest	Year	10-year change	Trend
1	United States	902,965 number	2018	up 61.0%	rising
2	Australia	431,195 number	2018	up 95.4%	rising
3	United Kingdom	413,093 number	2018	up 29.2%	rising
4	Russia	204,784 number	2018	up 122.2%	volatile
5	Germany	189,200 number	2018	up 148.6%	rising
6	Canada	176,203 number	2018	up 270.1%	volatile
7	Japan	150,845 number	2018	up 98.8%	volatile
8	France	130,135 number	2018	down 33.8%	rising
9	Netherlands	86,455 number	2018	up 297.9%	volatile
10	Turkey	77,592 number	2018	up 483.4%	volatile
11	United Arab Emirates	65,745 number	2016	up 63.4%	rising
12	Austria	53,745 number	2018	up 35.1%	rising
13	New Zealand	47,666 number	2018	up 74.3%	volatile
14	Belgium	38,028 number	2018	up 92.4%	rising
15	Switzerland	37,809 number	2018	up 80.1%	rising
16	Malaysia	37,489 number	2017	up 270.5%	volatile
18	Czechia	32,433 number	2018	up 72.3%	volatile
19	Italy	30,657 number	2018	down 13.3%	volatile
20	Spain	28,878 number	2018	up 99.1%	volatile
21	Singapore	28,004 number	2018	up 30.2%	rising
22	Poland	28,003 number	2018	up 328.2%	volatile
23	Denmark	27,353 number	2018	up 1,935.2%	volatile
24	Cuba	20,600 number	2012	up 100.7%	rising
25	Egypt	19,679 number	2016	down 15.8%	rising
26	Hungary	19,467 number	2018	up 124.1%	volatile
27	Jordan	18,318 number	2018	up 42.7%	rising
28	Sweden	14,939 number	2018	up 72.0%	flat
29	Macao	13,360 number	2018	up 18.5%	falling
30	Portugal	13,048 number	2018	up 493.8%	volatile
31	Finland	12,356 number	2018	up 165.2%	volatile
32	Grenada	7,403 number	2018	up 104.7%	rising
33	Ireland	7,309 number	2018	up 238.8%	volatile
34	Kyrgyzstan	5,459 number	2018	down 74.3%	volatile
35	Dominican Republic	5,117 number	2017	down 57.0%	falling
36	Lebanon	3,325 number	2018	down 63.5%	volatile
37	Qatar	2,493 number	2018	up 4.2%	volatile
38	Latvia	2,453 number	2018	up 195.2%	volatile
39	Saint Kitts and Nevis	2,091 number	2014	up 615.0%	volatile
40	Hong Kong	877.62 number	2018	up 103.3%	volatile
41	Thailand	794 number	2016	up 104.0%	rising
42	Estonia	725 number	2018	up 130.4%	rising
43	Senegal	561 number	2018	up 114.3%	volatile
44	Barbados	479 number	2011	up 160.6%	volatile
45	Malta	374 number	2018	up 165.6%	volatile
46	Bahrain	354 number	2018	up 112.8%	volatile
47	Slovenia	225 number	2018	up 124.3%	volatile
48	Aruba	91 number	2016	up 635.3%	volatile
49	Nauru	-123 number	2008	down 70.8%	falling
50	British Virgin Islands	-215 number	2016	up 3.2%	falling
51	Liechtenstein	-334 number	2018	down 55.3%	falling
52	Tuvalu	-413 number	2009	down 124.5%	falling
53	Seychelles	-544 number	2018	down 6.7%	falling
54	Sao Tome and Principe	-575 number	2008	down 2.9%	falling
55	Armenia	-622 number	2018	up 19.9%	volatile
56	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	-712 number	2018	down 0.4%	falling
57	Saint Lucia	-755 number	2018	up 22.1%	rising
58	Samoa	-1,015 number	2018	—	falling
59	Niger	-1,021 number	2018	up 71.3%	rising
60	Kiribati	-1,076 number	2012	down 19.6%	falling
61	Georgia	-1,172 number	2018	up 83.4%	rising
62	Maldives	-1,229 number	2003	down 239.5%	falling
63	Andorra	-1,265 number	2018	down 2.6%	falling
64	Botswana	-1,422 number	2017	up 83.8%	volatile
65	Guyana	-1,508 number	2012	down 37.8%	falling
66	Bermuda	-1,531 number	2018	down 41.4%	falling
67	Benin	-1,536 number	2018	unchanged	volatile
68	Burundi	-1,555 number	2018	down 11,207.1%	volatile
69	Gibraltar	-1,750 number	2016	down 163.6%	volatile
70	Namibia	-1,772 number	2017	up 77.6%	volatile
71	Rwanda	-1,799 number	2018	up 67.4%	falling
72	Djibouti	-1,852 number	2011	down 32.3%	falling
73	Iceland	-1,872 number	2018	down 10.8%	rising
74	Brunei	-2,205 number	2018	up 19.5%	falling
75	Mozambique	-2,348 number	2018	down 41.3%	falling
76	Honduras	-2,501 number	2018	down 38.2%	falling
77	Cambodia	-2,539 number	2006	down 83.3%	falling
78	Eswatini	-2,563 number	2015	up 16.3%	falling
79	Madagascar	-2,579 number	2018	up 17.9%	falling
80	North Macedonia	-2,608 number	2018	up 41.4%	rising
81	Lesotho	-2,965 number	2018	up 23.9%	falling
82	Solomon Islands	-3,084 number	2008	down 155.7%	falling
83	Burkina Faso	-3,248 number	2018	down 48.9%	falling
84	Saudi Arabia	-3,429 number	2018	up 44.7%	volatile
85	El Salvador	-3,573 number	2018	down 74.2%	falling
86	Cape Verde	-3,574 number	2018	down 19.3%	falling
87	Israel	-3,609 number	2014	—	rising
88	Lithuania	-4,095 number	2018	down 10.2%	falling
89	Mauritania	-4,279 number	2017	down 93.7%	falling
90	Serbia	-4,388 number	2018	down 4,518.9%	falling
91	Trinidad and Tobago	-4,651 number	2004	down 74.5%	falling
92	Croatia	-4,740 number	2018	down 12.7%	falling
93	Norway	-4,999 number	2018	down 202.7%	volatile
94	Comoros	-5,187 number	2014	down 113.8%	falling
95	Belarus	-5,671 number	2018	up 75.6%	volatile
96	Ghana	-5,987 number	2018	up 4.9%	volatile
97	Laos	-6,063 number	2018	down 70.3%	falling
98	Philippines	-6,226 number	2008	down 297.1%	falling
99	Mauritius	-6,532 number	2017	up 23.8%	rising
100	Mali	-7,694 number	2015	down 386.3%	falling
101	Luxembourg	-8,220 number	2018	down 46.7%	falling
102	Bosnia and Herzegovina	-8,316 number	2018	down 32.7%	falling
103	Romania	-8,422 number	2018	down 4.4%	falling
104	Guinea	-8,644 number	2017	down 109.5%	falling
105	Cote d'Ivoire	-9,050 number	2017	down 1,664.1%	falling
106	Bulgaria	-9,938 number	2018	up 4.3%	falling
107	Mongolia	-10,256 number	2018	down 48.6%	falling
108	Chile	-11,046 number	2018	down 512.0%	volatile
109	Greece	-12,771 number	2018	down 21.6%	volatile
110	Oman	-13,043 number	2018	down 41.0%	falling
111	Moldova	-14,984 number	2018	down 11.7%	falling
112	Cyprus	-15,221 number	2018	up 12.0%	falling
113	Albania	-16,212 number	2018	up 32.0%	volatile
114	Zimbabwe	-16,449 number	2015	up 18.5%	rising
115	Cameroon	-16,861 number	2018	up 1.6%	falling
116	South Korea	-17,025 number	2018	up 78.0%	rising
117	Tajikistan	-17,543 number	2017	down 4,027.8%	volatile
118	Tunisia	-17,695 number	2018	down 14.0%	falling
119	Bangladesh	-18,453 number	2009	down 53.5%	falling
120	Slovakia	-19,875 number	2018	up 4.9%	falling
121	Algeria	-21,215 number	2018	down 22.1%	rising
122	Ukraine	-22,431 number	2018	down 2,562.2%	volatile
123	Sri Lanka	-22,796 number	2018	down 41.2%	falling
124	Mexico	-26,973 number	2018	down 35.0%	falling
125	Palestine	-27,384 number	2018	down 88.1%	falling
126	Morocco	-32,090 number	2018	up 4.2%	rising
127	Iran	-35,796 number	2018	down 12.1%	falling
128	Uzbekistan	-36,209 number	2018	down 16.2%	falling
129	Azerbaijan	-39,071 number	2018	down 1,805.0%	volatile
130	Colombia	-41,867 number	2018	—	falling
131	Indonesia	-42,223 number	2018	down 42.8%	falling
132	Brazil	-46,002 number	2018	down 195.3%	falling
133	Kazakhstan	-69,171 number	2018	down 92.8%	volatile
134	Vietnam	-90,459 number	2017	down 271.4%	volatile
135	India	-328,978 number	2018	down 143.1%	falling
136	China	-815,096 number	2018	down 100.2%	falling

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

South Africa 33,137 number

About this data

Indicator: Net flow of internationally mobile students (inbound - outbound), both sexes (number)
Unit: number
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 136 places, 1,866 data points, 1998–2018
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Number of tertiary students from abroad (inbound students) studying in a given country minus the number of students at the same level from a given country studying abroad (outbound students).