The objective of the Education Finland programme, which operates within the Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI) and boosts Finnish education exports, is to increase the value of education exports to EUR 1 billion by 2030. According to a recent review commissioned by the programme and conducted by the Labour Institute for Economic Research (LABORE), the total value of the education export sector in the Finnish economy hit already approximately EUR 1 billion, or nearly half a percent of Finland's GDP in 2019.

The term "education exports" refers to both products exports, such as the export of tangible learning environments or materials, and services exports, such as the sale of education solutions overseas and the training of foreign degree students in Finland.

According to the review, in the school year 2019–2020, foreign degree students from higher education institutions had a positive effect worth EUR 81 million on the Finnish economy. The calculations take into account both the resources used for the education of students during the school year in question and the net tuition fees received from them. Indirect income transfer impacts through students’ consumption and work were also taken into consideration, as was the income earned by foreigners who graduated between 2000 and 2019.

Read more on EDUFI press release.