In the 2022-2023 academic year, French higher education institutions welcomed a total of 412,087 international degree seeking and credit mobility students, reflecting a 3% increase over the previous year and a remarkable 17% surge over the past five years. This data, unveiled by Campus France in the 2024 edition of their student mobility key figures publication, underscores the growing appeal of French universities in the global stage.  

Campus France's report sheds further light on the landscape of international student mobility. Noteworthy increases in international student numbers in France between 2017 and 2022 were observed from countries including Lebanon (+103%), India (+64%), Benin (+78%), and Congo (+53%), as well as Italy (+50%), Spain (+48%), and Portugal (+31%) in the EU. The growth in international student enrollment in French universities saw a raise of 8% between 2017 and 2022, with a distribution of 52% in undergraduate programs (135,515 individuals), 40% in master's programmes (103,327 individuals), and 8% in doctoral programmes (20,265 individuals). 

Further to this, French participation in the Erasmus+ programme saw a significant increase of 36% in beneficiaries in 2022-2023, totaling 52,633 students. France has thus become the lead country in the programme in higher education, surpassing its European counterparts. France also maintained its status as the 4th most preferred destination for Erasmus+ participants globally, with 28,397 incoming students choosing to do a study or work exchange there, out of the total 420,948 students and staff on mobility in higher education last academic year. 

Download the student mobility key figures publication here (in French).