According to a UNESCO study that was conducted in 2016, the contribution of international students to global economy has exceeded $300 Billion USD. According to the report:
The analysis revealed that 19.1% of students were in the US, with an estimated economic impact of US$57.3 billion. China, India and South Korea were estimated to have contributed $18.3bn, $8bn and $3.6bn respectively.
In the UK, which had an 8.5% share of the world’s internationally mobile students that year, the estimated economic impact came in at US$25.5bn, with China ($5.3bn) and Malaysia ($1bn) contributing the largest amounts.
The economic impact on Australia was estimated at $19.8bn, France at $6.7bn, Germany $6.7bn and the Netherlands $5.3bn.
And although Canada had just 3.7% of the total globally mobile students in 2016, the analysis estimated international students had an economic impact of US$11.2bn.
But while the financial impact is “enormous”, the analysis explained that it does not capture the intangible positive impact of international students in terms of their