India’s global education hub ambitions: Recent student mobility trends, the underlying dynamics and strategy perspectives

Figures & data

Figure 1. Indian international student mobility landscape (2012–2021).

Source: UNESCO-IS (2023).

Figure 2. The primary source regions (2012–2022).

Source: UNESCO-IS (2023)

Table 1. A ten-year view of India’s leading international student source countries

Year	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
The main African source countries
Inbound students from Ethiopia
Number	231	274	331	549	387	723	681	870	695	967
Contribution (%)	0.8	0.8	0.8	1.3	0.9	1.5	1.5	1.8	1.4	2.0
Inbound students from Kenya
Number	491	435	472	481	457	530	530	489	413	429
Contribution (%)	1.7	1.3	1.2	1.1	1.0	1.1	1.2	1.0	0.8	0.9
Inbound students from Nigeria
Number	326	661	1260	1948	2088	2086	1866	1614	1525	1419
Contribution (%)	1.2	1.9	3.2	4.6	4.7	4.5	4.0	3.4	3.1	3.0
Inbound students from Tanzania
Number	777	759	810	838	819	1026	751	968	1152	1306
Contribution (%)	2.7	2.2	2.1	2.0	1.8	2.2	1.6	2.0	2.3	2.7
North America – USA as a source country
Inbound students from the USA
Number	782	849	1089	978	1018	1118	1414	1517	1626	2458
Contribution (%)	2.8	2.5	2.8	2.3	2.3	2.4	3.1	3.2	3.3	5.1
The main Asian source countries
Inbound students from Afghanistan
Number	1599	2330	3016	3723	4404	4423	4378	4657	4504	4082
Contribution (%)	5.6	6.8	7.7	8.9	9.8	9.5	9.5	9.8	9.1	8.5
Inbound students from Bangladesh
To India	535	774	715	948	1099	1526	1566	2075	2258	2750
Contribution (%)	1.9	2.2	1.8	2.3	2.5	3.3	3.4	4.4	4.6	5.7
Inbound students from Bhutan
Number	2274	2362	2619	2473	2756	2253	1985	1809	1851	1827
Contribution (%)	8.0	6.9	6.7	5.9	6.2	4.8	4.3	3.8	3.8	3.8
Inbound students from Nepal
Number	5481	6983	8183	8553	9144	10494	11498	12747	13883	13574
Contribution (%)	19.3	20.3	21.0	20.4	20.4	22.5	25.0	26.9	28.1	28.3
Inbound students from Sri Lanka
Number	1115	991	1216	1612	1185	1269	1248	1252	1168	862
Contribution (%)	3.9	2.9	3.1	3.8	2.6	2.7	2.7	2.6	2.4	1.8
Inbound students from the UAE
Number	748	805	538	1284	1479	1217	1121	1050	1347	2307
Contribution (%)	2.6	2.3	1.4	3.1	3.3	2.6	2.4	2.2	2.7	4.8
Inbound students from Yemen
Number	431	529	719	902	1236	1341	1454	1498	1437	1095
Contribution (%)	1.5	1.5	1.8	2.1	2.8	2.9	3.2	3.2	2.9	2.3

Source: UNESCO-IS (2023).

Table 2. Market attractiveness indicators for East African countries

Dimension	Market size			Customer receptiveness
Measures	GDP growth, annual (%)	GDP per capita (US$)	Primary education enrolments (in 000s)	Total outbound students	Outbound students who selected India
Burundi	1.8	238	2110	3037	95
Comoros	2.4	1485	113	5798	67
Djibouti	3	3136	61	2414	95
Ethiopia	5.3	1028	16695	7465	671
Kenya	4.8	2099	8290	15677	484
Madagascar	3.8	505	4733	4720	50
Malawi	0.9	645	4280	3617	144
Mauritius	8.7	10216	97	8083	285
Mozambique	4.1	542	6042	3095	176
Rwanda	8.2	966	2546	5195	293
Seychelles	8.8	15,875	9	564	20
Tanzania	4.6	1,192	8638	6966	943
Uganda	4.7	964	8655	5885	283
Zambia	4.7	1,488	3203	5136	456
Zimbabwe	3.4	1,267	2662	19076	328

Source: Adapted from Pawar (2022) using World Bank and UNSECO-IS data (UNESCO, 2023; World Bank, 2023).

Note: East African countries as source markets were included for assessment subject to data availability on the above-mentioned measures. GDP growth and GDP per capita pertain to 2022; primary education enrolments are in 2016; total outbound and outbound students to India are average from 2016 to 2020.

UNESCO Institute of Statistics. (2023). Number and Rates of International Mobile Students (Inbound and Outbound). Retrieved from http://data.uis.unesco.org/

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Pawar, S. K. (2022). An assessment of market dependency risk in the international student industry. International Journal of Educational Reform, 10567879221106727, 105678792211067. https://doi.org/10.1177/10567879221106727

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The World Bank. (2023). Retrieved from https://data.worldbank.org

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