The Talent Beyond Borders report, developed by Studyportals and Cambridge IELTS, argues that the true value of international education has been significantly underestimated by calculations focused on tuition fees and students’ spending while at university.
“International students are worth so much more as a talent source than they are in tuition fees and local spend,” said Edwin van Rest, CEO and co-founder of Studyportals.
“This is the first time their labour contribution is quantified,” he added.
The research estimates that around 2.67 million of the world’s 7.3 million international students in 2023 graduated in 2024. Some 41% are expected to remain in their study destination, putting approximately 1.1 million international graduates into host-country labour markets each year.
That single cohort of “stayers” is estimated to generate around $110 billion in economic output in its first year of work and $1.7tn over its working lifetime, accounting for retention patterns.
The findings represent an attempt to shift the debate around international students beyond their immediate economic footprint.
A previous global estimate, based on 2016 data and published in 2019, valued internationally mobile students’ economic impact during their studies at around $300bn.
Taken together, the figures suggest the economic contribution associated with international students during their studies and subsequent careers could approach $2tn.
“Our new report places the economic contribution international students make to host economies at $1.7 trillion over a lifetime, which is a remarkable figure,” said Francesca Woodward, global managing director, English at Cambridge University Press & Assessment.
“But the financial impact is only part of the story when you consider the social and cultural impact students have on the countries where they study, work and live.”
The economic impact is heavily concentrated among the four traditional anglophone study destinations.
While the US, UK, Australia and Canada host around 35% of international students globally, they account for almost 60% of the first-year economic output identified by the research.
Together, international students who graduated from the ‘Big Four’ countries in 2024 are projected to generate around $1tn in lifetime economic value.
The report’s authors said international graduates were also playing an increasingly important role in plugging skills shortages.
Among graduates in shortage-relevant disciplines, “stayers” account for 48% of international Medicine and Health graduates, 59% in Engineering and Technology and 56% in Computer Science and IT.
International students enrich communities, plug vital skills gaps, boost diversity and help build stronger connections between people and countries
Francesca Woodward, Cambridge University Press & Assessment
“International students enrich communities, plug vital skills gaps, boost diversity and help build stronger connections between people and countries,” said Woodward.
The study draws on Studyportals data covering more than half a million international graduates, alongside analysis of 15 major study destinations that collectively host around 60% of internationally mobile students.
“What makes this dataset particularly valuable is not just its scale, but its comparability,” said Arunima Dey, research analyst at Studyportals and co-author of the report.
“International graduate outcomes are often measured differently across countries, making meaningful comparisons difficult.”
Applying a consistent framework across major markets, she said, allowed researchers “to identify global patterns that would be difficult to observe through national statistics alone”.
The research divides international graduates into three groups based on where they go next.
Some 41% are “stayers”, remaining in their study country and entering its workforce, while 35% are “homecomers” who return to their country of origin. The remaining 24% are “nomads”, moving to a third country after graduation.
The report argues that all three groups generate benefits from international education, whether by filling shortages in host-country labour markets, taking skills and networks home, or building professional links between countries.
“Many of the world’s most successful companies, universities, research labs and governments are led by former international students,” said van Rest.
“There’s a lot more they bring in social impact and soft power that no spreadsheet can capture.”
The findings land at a time when the benefits of international student recruitment and graduate retention are facing heightened political scrutiny in several major destinations.
Tayyeb Shah, president of the European Association for International Education (EAIE), said the research challenged narratives suggesting that international students create greater burdens than benefits for host countries.
“With internationalisation under pressure in many countries around the world,” the report offered a “crucially important, data-supported indication that this perspective could not be further from the truth”, he said.
“Societies in many different parts of the world are experiencing tangible gains from international student enrolments, the retention of graduates, and the wider circulation” of international talent.
Van Rest said demographic change meant governments should increasingly view international students as a long-term source of talent rather than simply an education export.
“We hope this supports policy makers and the world to not only think about international education as an export, but to more comprehensively consider their contributions,” he said.
“As global demographics shift, that talent impact is only going to become more critical.”
