US Is Most Popular Study Abroad Destination For Indians, China Loses Popularity In 5 Years

Minister of State in the Ministry of Education Dr Sukanta Majumdar has apprised the Rajya Sabha about the data the ministry has about the number of Indian students going to study abroad. The minister provided detailed country-wise data for a few years on how many Indian students went to which countries.

Study Abroad: While replying to a question in Rajya Sabha about whether a large number of Indian students are going to study abroad, Union Minister, Dr Sukanta Majumdar said that the Ministry of Education does not maintain any such data. However, as per the data of the Bureau of Immigration(BoI) of students who disclosed their purpose of visiting to foreign country, in the last few years, the number has definitely increased.

As per the BoI data, 4,44,553 Indian students went to study abroad in 2021 and next year in 2022, this number increased to 7,50,365 and in 2023 the number stood at 8,92,989, which is nearly 9 lakh. These three-year numbers show a consistent increase in students going to study abroad. If we talk about the number during the Covid-19 pandemic, the number was drastically reduced, in 2019, 5,86,337 Indian students went to foreign countries to pursue higher education before the pandemic which reduced to 2,59,655 in 2020 when Covid came.

Top 5 Preferred Countries By Indian Students For Study Abroad

According to the data shared in Rajya Sabha, the following 5 countries are more preferred by students and the numbers are only increasing:

Country	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
USA	122535	62415	125115	190512	234473
Canada	132620	43624	102688	185955	233532
UK	36612	44901	77855	132709	136921
Australia	73808	33629	8950	59044	78093
Russian Federation	16545	1387	15814	19784	23503

Among the top countries are the USA and Canada. In 2019, 122535 Indian students went to the US to study abroad, which increased to 2,34,473 by 2023. Canada enrolled 1,32,620 in 2019, which increased to 2,33,532 in 2023.

Top 5 Countries Where Number Decreased

Following are the five countries which saw a decline in Indian students going there to study:

Country	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
China	19170	398	3	1967	7279
Philippines	13479	4601	251	11261	6883
New Zealand	10297	5321	64	1605	6471
Hong Kong	1646	563	198	708	607
Cyprus	3528	1511	162	726	1477

If we talk about five countries which saw a decline in numbers over 5 years from 2019 to 2021, China saw a huge decline from 19170 in 2019 to 7279 in 2023. After COVID-19, China imposed many restrictions on international students' travel and the policies kept on changing which has resulted in this decline. In the Philippines, 13479 Indian students went to study abroad in 2019 and in 2023, only 6883 students went to study abroad. New Zealand enrolled 10297 Indian students in 2019 which decreased to 6471 in 2023.

European Countries Not So Popular Among Indian Students

See the table below to see the data of European countries:

Country	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Austria	457	192	353	466	597
Belgium	648	355	605	514	535
Bulgaria	224	53	133	139	205
Denmark	520	253	341	488	523
Estonia	129	50	94	54	58
Finland	243	80	133	234	449
France	8495	4333	5293	6406	7484
Germany	18034	9865	16259	20684	23296
Greece	203	87	62	207	124
Hungury	440	243	304	389	336
Ireland	6671	3272	4869	6211	8011
Italy	4791	3211	3008	3507	3739
Latvia	1464	539	537	750	1566
Lithuania	398	227	355	324	286
Luxembourg	48	21	53	46	57
Malta	540	250	222	599	1868
Netherlands	2593	1335	2006	1901	1938
Poland	2007	616	1046	1443	1639
Portugal	190	79	155	163	236
Romania	49	24	52	78	97
Spain	1624	840	1253	1384	1376
Sweden	1059	664	806	639	611

According to the data shared, European countries are not that popular among Indian students. Many of the countries saw a similar figure in 2019 and 2013. A good number of students go to Germany and France. Germany remains the most popular European countries for study abroad. Irelands popularity has increased, the number in 2019 was 6671, which increased to 8011 in 2023.

Indian Students Going To Abroad: More Details

Despite the changing migration policies in countries like Australia, UK and Canada, these are still the top choices among Indian students. Ukraine saw a drastic drop in the number of Indian students going there for study. In 2019, 13911 Indians went to study in Ukraine which was in 2013 reduced to 326 due to the ongoing Russia and Ukraine war. The United Arab Emirates also saw a decrease in Indian students going there, from 9341 in 2019 to 6611 in 2023.

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