Number of national tertiary students enrolled abroad by country
This dataset contains data on the total number of mobile national students abroad. Data for the latest available year are preliminary. Final data will be released on 29 September 2026. For more information, please consult the Education at a Glance web page and the OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative...
What the numbers show
Number of national tertiary students enrolled abroad is currently reported for 40 countries. The highest value is 130,662 Persons in Germany; the lowest is 2,556 Persons in Iceland.
The median across all reporting countries is 18,977 Persons, and the mean is 30,884 Persons.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 51.
Over the past decade 33 countries rose and 7 fell. The largest increase was in Brazil (up 220.2%), and the largest decrease in Lithuania (down 36.5%).
Number of national tertiary students enrolled abroad: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Germany | 130,662 Persons | 2023 | up 19.2% | rising |
| 1 | Türkiye | 55,632 Persons | 2023 | up 88.8% | rising |
| 2 | France | 114,816 Persons | 2023 | up 65.0% | rising |
| 2 | Poland | 25,483 Persons | 2023 | up 23.0% | rising |
| 3 | United States | 102,045 Persons | 2023 | up 110.3% | rising |
| 3 | Netherlands | 18,895 Persons | 2023 | up 53.7% | rising |
| 3 | Croatia | 6,249 Persons | 2023 | up 116.3% | rising |
| 4 | Brazil | 88,343 Persons | 2023 | up 220.2% | rising |
| 4 | Lithuania | 7,345 Persons | 2023 | down 36.5% | falling |
| 5 | Italy | 84,918 Persons | 2023 | up 87.2% | rising |
| 5 | Latvia | 4,548 Persons | 2023 | down 26.6% | falling |
| 6 | Colombia | 58,092 Persons | 2023 | up 170.3% | rising |
| 6 | Estonia | 3,016 Persons | 2023 | down 25.9% | falling |
| 7 | Spain | 50,510 Persons | 2023 | up 91.8% | rising |
| 7 | Slovenia | 2,943 Persons | 2023 | up 40.6% | volatile |
| 8 | Canada | 49,032 Persons | 2023 | up 7.8% | flat |
| 9 | Mexico | 37,352 Persons | 2023 | up 39.8% | rising |
| 10 | United Kingdom | 36,385 Persons | 2023 | up 50.9% | rising |
| 11 | Greece | 34,335 Persons | 2023 | up 50.2% | rising |
| 12 | Japan | 31,805 Persons | 2023 | up 11.3% | flat |
| 13 | Romania | 29,426 Persons | 2023 | up 18.0% | rising |
| 14 | Austria | 27,110 Persons | 2023 | up 88.5% | rising |
| 15 | Bulgaria | 23,489 Persons | 2023 | up 10.2% | flat |
| 16 | Chile | 20,902 Persons | 2023 | up 201.0% | rising |
| 17 | Switzerland | 19,865 Persons | 2023 | up 89.9% | rising |
| 18 | Belgium | 19,060 Persons | 2023 | up 63.9% | rising |
| 19 | Portugal | 17,558 Persons | 2023 | up 79.2% | rising |
| 20 | Ireland | 17,389 Persons | 2023 | up 9.6% | rising |
| 21 | Hungary | 14,706 Persons | 2023 | up 86.4% | rising |
| 22 | Norway | 14,308 Persons | 2023 | down 15.8% | falling |
| 23 | Sweden | 14,012 Persons | 2023 | down 17.6% | falling |
| 24 | Luxembourg | 13,710 Persons | 2023 | up 53.5% | rising |
| 25 | Israel | 12,741 Persons | 2023 | up 91.3% | rising |
| 26 | Australia | 11,663 Persons | 2023 | up 12.2% | rising |
| 27 | Czechia | 11,651 Persons | 2023 | up 74.0% | rising |
| 28 | Finland | 8,741 Persons | 2023 | up 13.9% | rising |
| 29 | Denmark | 5,852 Persons | 2023 | up 28.8% | rising |
| 30 | New Zealand | 4,493 Persons | 2023 | down 13.3% | falling |
| 31 | Costa Rica | 3,730 Persons | 2023 | up 102.2% | rising |
| 32 | Iceland | 2,556 Persons | 2023 | down 8.2% | flat |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Korea 85,538 Persons
- Slovak Republic 30,392 Persons
About this data
This dataset contains data on the total number of mobile national students abroad. Data for the latest available year are preliminary. Final data will be released on 29 September 2026. For more information, please consult the Education at a Glance web page and the OECD Handbook for Internationally Comparative Education Statistics: Concepts, Standards, Definitions and Classifications.