Indians studying abroad up by more than half, per govt data

The number of Indians studying abroad has seen a 52.2% increase over the past five years, rising from 5,86,337 in 2019 to 8,92,989 in 2023, the education ministry informed the Rajya Sabha on Dec 18.

Of the 8,92,989 Indian students abroad, the largest group is in the United States with 2,34,473 students, followed by Canada with 2,33,532, and the United Kingdom with 1,36,921.

According to data from the education ministry, there has been a steady increase in the number of Indians choosing to study abroad since 2019, except for 2020, when the figure dropped by 55.7% to 2,59,655. This decline was due to the travel restrictions imposed worldwide in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, which also led many educational institutions to transition entirely to online learning between 2019 and 2020.

Responding to questions asked by V Sivadasan, CPI(M) Member of Parliament from Kerala, Minister of State (MoS) for education, Sukanta Majumdar, in a written reply stated that the education ministry does not maintain data related to Indian students going abroad for higher studies but it has the information on number of Indians who disclosed their purpose of visit as ‘Study or Education’ while going abroad in the last five years as provided by the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Among the top three countries hosting the highest number of Indian students, Canada experienced a 76% increase in Indian student enrollment, rising from 132,620 in 2019 to 233,532 in 2023. This growth occurred despite escalating diplomatic tensions between the two nations.