US tops overseas students again – UK loses

Statistics from CSN show that a total of 22,000 people studied abroad with study funding in the 2022/2023 academic year. This number is up by 1,100 on the previous year, but despite the increase in the past two years, the number of students abroad remains lower than before the pandemic. Since 2014/2015, when the number of international students was at its peak, the number has fallen by 26 per cent.

The UK has been the most popular country for international students for three years in a row, but this year it loses the top spot to the US. A total of 3,300 applied to the US to study abroad, compared to 2,500 in the UK. The number of international students in Great Britain has fallen by 19 per cent compared to the previous academic year and by 40 per cent compared to the 2019/2020 academic year.

– One reason for the large reduction in student numbers in Great Britain may be that tuition fees have risen significantly since Brexit. Previously, students from Sweden and other EU countries paid the same tuition fees as British citizens, but after Brexit, students from EU countries pay the same fees as other international students, says CSN analyst Malin Lundquist.

Australia is back in the list of top ten study abroad countries. Numbers dropped sharply during the pandemic, but increased last academic year. However, student numbers in Australia have halved since the 2018/2019 academic year.

Riga and London are the most common places to study

London is the most common study abroad destination, but now shares top spot with Riga for the 2022/2023 academic year, which has grown in popularity in recent years. Riga Stradins University and Lithuanian University of Health Sciences top the list of most common schools abroad and are popular choices for medical and clinical studies. A total of 2,400 people studied medicine, mainly medical education, abroad in the 2022/2023 academic year, unchanged from the previous academic year.

Ten most popular schools – post-secondary courses (number of students) 2022/23. In the academic year 2021/2022 the reservation brackets are:

1. Riga Stradins University, Latvia, 834 (1)

2. Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Lithuania, 401 (3).

3. Code Institute, Ireland, 341 (6)

4. Copenhagen Business School, Denmark, 336 (2)

5. Santa Monica College, USA, 270 (5)

6. Medical University of Gdansk, Poland, 218 (4).

7. University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 214 (7)

8. Politecnico di Milano, Italy, 158 (New on the list)

9. National University of Singapore, Singapore, 145 (New)

10. University of Copenhagen, Denmark, 132 (8)

Ten most popular school types – post-secondary courses (number of students) 2022/23. Employment for the 2021/2022 academic year is in brackets.

1. London, United Kingdom, 872 (1)

1. Riga, Latvia, 872 (3)

3. Copenhagen, Denmark, 674 (2)

4. Dublin, Ireland, 500 (7)

5. Paris, France, 416 (4)

6. Kaunas, Lithuania, 404 (6)

7. Amsterdam, Netherlands, 381 (5)

8. Milan, Italy, 365 (New)

9. Barcelona, ​​Spain, 298 (9)

10. Sydney, Australia, 292 (New)

Ten most popular countries – all school forms (number of students) 2022/23. In the academic year 2021/2022 the reservation brackets are:

1. United States, 3,281 (2)

2. Great Britain, 2,503 (1)

3. Spain, 1,239 (3)

4. France, 1,179 (4)

5. Netherlands, 1,114 (6)

6. Italy, 1,015 (9)

7. Denmark, 958 (7)

8. Poland, 929 (5)

9. Australia, 884 (New)

10. Latvia, 876 (10)