Young students waving flags of different countries.

In 2023, there were 1.76 million students from abroad undertaking tertiary level studies across the EU, amounting to 8.4% of all students.

Among EU countries, Luxembourg had the highest share of foreign students among tertiary education students (52.3%), followed at distance by Malta (29.6%) and Cyprus (22.3%). 

By contrast, Greece (3.0%), Croatia (3.7%) and Spain (4.3%) recorded the lowest shares.

Share of tertiary education students from abroad, 2023, % of all students. Chart. See link to the full dataset below.

Source datasets: educ_uoe_mobs02 and educ_uoe_enrt01

In 20 EU countries, the largest group of students from abroad came from elsewhere in Europe. This share was highest in Slovakia (91.3%), followed by Slovenia (89.4%) and Croatia (89.0%).

Students from Asia were the largest group of foreign students in Ireland (45.0%), Finland (43.35), Germany (40.1%) and Italy (36%).

Share of tertiary education students from abroad by continent of origin, 2023, % of all tertiary education students from abroad. Chart. See link to the full dataset below.

Source dataset: educ_uoe_mobs02

In France, more than half (52.3%) of tertiary students from abroad in 2023 were from Africa, which was also the largest group of foreign students in Portugal (42.1%).

In Spain, most of the foreign tertiary education students (46.7%) were from the Caribbean, Central and South America.

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