Over 13.35 lakh Indians studying abroad; minor dip in Canada, Russia, China sees surge

Popular English speaking countries such as Canada (427000), the US (337630), Australia (122202) and the UK (185000) still remain the top choice for Indian students hoping to pursue a degree abroad.

This year, some countries such as Russia and Canada have registered a slight decline in the number of Indian students pursuing higher degree. Number of Indian students in Russia declined from 25278 in 2023 to 24940 in 2024. This decline can be a result of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, due to which all Indian students were earlier brought back from Russia and Ukraine. These two countries have traditional favourites among Indian medical aspirants. The number of Indian students in Ukraine also dropped from 11987 in 2023 to 2510 this year.

Another country which was earlier popular among Indian medical students was China. While the Asian country has registered an increase in number of Indian students in the past year, the number has seen a dramatic decline when compared to pre-pandemic years. In 2019, a total of 15207 Indian students were present in China, however the number suddenly dropped to 2950 when the Covid-19 virus took over the world — which had allegedly started from China. The number then increased to 11636 in 2021, and once again decreased to 3213 in 2022. Since the pandemic got over, the market of Indian students is once again increasing as it was 7858 in 2023 and 8580 in 2024.

Canada, too, has been facing several internal and external issues which may have resulted in the decline (427085 in 2023 to 427000 in 2024) of the number of Indian students in the country. The Indian Express had reported in September 2023 about how Indian students in Canada were struggling to find housing, food, jobs. In addition to that, there have also been several geo-political issues between the two countries, which had brought a wave of fear among the Indian students hoping to study in Canada.

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