The latest Erasmus+ statistical report has just been released for 2017 and it demonstrates, once again in the words of Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Tibor Navracsics, that Erasmus is a true European success story. As Erasmus celebrated 30 years in 2017, the report shows that Erasmus+ is achieving the expected results by supporting 3.7% of young people in the EU in the period 2014-2020 and by encouraging people from disadvantaged backgrounds and smaller organisations to participate.

In particular, 2017 saw the following key achievements among others:

• an investment of EUR 2.6 billion, representing 13% more than in 2016;
• almost 800 000 people studied, volunteered or interned abroad, with an increase of 10% compared to the previous year;  
• 84 700 organisations were involved in 22 400 projects;
• concerning mobility activities in higher education, during the 2016/2017 academic year, 400 000 students, trainees and staff participated in the programme, including almost 21 000 disadvantaged students and staff;
• new or improved digital tools were used, i.e. the Erasmus+ Mobile App reached 55 000 users, the e-Twinning platform has more than 500 000 users thus representing the world’s biggest teachers’ network and 380 000 people had access to online language training courses since 2014, including almost 5 500 refugees; 
• a simplified format for volunteering activities was introduced, such as the strategic European Voluntary Service, which also helped the launch of the European Solidarity Corps initiative. 

Qualitative information on the Erasmus+ projects can be found on The Erasmus+ Project Results platform. In 30 years, the geographical scope of Erasmus has broadened from 11 to 33 countries, plus several partner countries worldwide. The Commission is now looking at the new 2021-2027 Erasmus programme whose top-priorities are to double the budget to EUR 30 billion, triple the participants to 12 million and improve the level of inclusiveness, accessibility and internationalisation (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, May 2018). The upcoming programme will also seek to create a European Education Area by 2025 for ensuring education, learning and training without borders!

European Commission – Press Release