Page 19 - Movers, Shapers, and Everything in Between: Influencers of the International Student Experience

$300 billion to the global economy in 2017. The data show that there were more than 5.3 million international students in 2018—an average increase of 4.8% per year since 1998 (OECD, 2020a).
Overall, international students account for 5.6% of total tertiary enrollment (UNESCO, 2021). While the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have interrupted international student mobility in 2020 and 2021, the upward trend is expected to resume: OECD data predict that eight million students will study abroad by 2025. Students from Asian countries make up the largest share of international students enrolled in tertiary education-they collectively account for 57% of all mobile students in OECD countries (OECD, 2020a). In 2019, more than 993,000 Chinese and 375,000 Indian students were enrolled abroad, accounting for more than 30% of international students. The other major supplier countries—Vietnam, South Korea, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Japan—jointly contribute more than 260,000 international students (UNESCO, 2021). The economic and social weight of international students underscores the importance of understanding their experiences.
The leading countries that host international students are Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD, being the resulting acronym). According to the OECD, the United States accounts for 18% share of the global education market, followed by the United Kingdom (8%), Australia (8%), and Germany (6%). International students enrolled in non-OECD countries accounted for about 30% of the global pool of internationally mobile students in 2018, with the fastest growth in enrollment coming from non-OECD countries (OECD, 2020a). The countries with the highest share of international students are Luxembourg (48%) and Qatar (34%), followed by Australia (27%) (Hilger & Downing, 2021). The relative impact of international students in these countries may be even greater than in countries where they make up a small proportion.
The significant benefits that international students bring have led governments and higher education institutions to seek ways to support
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General Introduction
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