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UK international student data 2021/2022

In early December, Universities UK International (UUKi) published its annual snapshot of the international dimensions of UK higher education. This snapshot features the key trends based on the 2021/2022 academic year data drawn from several resources such as HESA Student Statistics (2023), UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2022), and London Economics (2023). 

Here are a few highlights: 

  • In 2021/2022, the UK hosted 679.970 international students, surpassing the UK government’s ambition to host at least 600.000 international students each year. This represents a 12.4% increase, compared to the previous academic year.  
  • International students accounted for nearly one fourth (23.8%) of the total student population in the same reference year.  
  • By level of study, 15.1% of all undergraduates and 45.4% of all postgraduates were international students.  
  • In the same academic year, China, India, Nigeria, the US and Pakistan were the top sending countries for international students in the UK. Chinese and Indian students made up 27.8% and 22.1% of all non-EU students at UK higher education providers respectively. 
  • While the total number of non-EU students grew by nearly one fourth (23.8%), EU students fell by 21.4%.  
  • French and Italian students remain the two largest cohorts from the EU (11.870 and 11.320 students respectively). 
  • The gross economic contribution of the 2021/2022 cohort of international students to the UK was GBP 41.9 billion. Each parliamentary constituency in the UK benefitted by an average of GBP 58 million, equivalent to GBP 560 per member of the resident population (after all costs have been accounted for). 

It is to be seen if this trend holds for the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 academic years as the number of international students applying for visas to study in the UK slipped, according to Home Office figures, by 16% between July and September 2024 as compared to the same period in 2023.