The economic contribution of international students in major study destinations is often measured in the billions. But most analyses focus only on the time during which those students are enrolled and measure students’ direct spending on tuition fees as well as indirect spending in other sectors such as retail, restaurants, tourism, and real estate. A new study goes further, examining international students’ impact after they graduate.
The study report is Talent Beyond Borders, by Studyportals and Cambridge IELTS, and it finds that the total economic output of a single cohort of international graduates who stay in a host country after their studies is approximately US$1.7 trillion over the course of their lifetime, and US$110 billion in their first year after graduating.
Compared to the US$300 billion that a 2019 study estimated international students spend while studying in their programmes, the economic contribution of graduates who remain in their host country to work is clearly much, much larger.
The report explains:
“[Our] central argument is that the value of students predominantly lies not in the tuition fees they pay, but in the economic and societal impact they create in the communities where they live and work after graduation.”
The methodology highlights are:
- Of the approximately 7.3 million international students worldwide in 2023, an estimated 2.67 million graduated in 2024. Around 41% of these graduates chose to stay in their study country and entered the local workforce by 2025. The study focused on the proportion of the 2024 cohort entering the workforce in 15 major study destinations. Those destinations were chosen because they publish the most robust data and because they host roughly 60% of the world’s international students.
- The analysis centred on the output of students who remained to work in their host country (“Stayers”) based on Studyportals’ global dataset containing over half a million international graduates.
- World Bank, UNESCO, and OECD data inputs were used to demonstrate different elements of total economic contribution.
Edwin van Rest, CEO and co-founder of Studyportals, commented on the implications of the research:
“Many of the world’s most successful companies, universities, research labs and governments are led by former international students. International students are worth so much more as a talent source than they are in tuition fees and local spend. As global demographics shift, that talent impact is only going to become more critical. Furthermore, there’s a lot more they bring in social impact and soft power that no spreadsheet can capture. International students enrich communities, plug vital skills gaps, boost diversity, and help build stronger connections between people and countries.”
Stayers, Homecomers, and Nomads
Along with “Stayers,” who go on to work in their host country, the report also profiles two other categories of students: “Homecomers,” who return to their own country, and Nomads, who go on to work and live in third countries. While not directly measurable, the economic, social, and talent impact of those two groups is also well worth considering for policymakers.
The report estimates that Stayers, Homecomers, and Nomads represent 41%, 35%, and 24% of all international graduates, respectively.
Stayers are most likely to be Indian, Iranian, Nepali, Bangladeshi, or Lebanese. They mostly settle in Canada, Australia, Germany, Ireland, and the US.
The predominant origin countries of Homecomers are Kenya, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and UAE. This group is more likely to choose destinations outside the Big Four for their studies, with South Africa, India, Spain, China, and Czechia the leading hosts of Homecomers.
Nomads, meanwhile, are mainly European and clearly benefit from strong mobility agreements and credential recognition in their region. They are most likely to come from France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and the UK, and the leading study destinations for them are Portugal, Italy, Czechia, Switzerland, and Spain.
The report notes: “The three personas demonstrate that international education creates a global circulation system in which talent moves in multiple directions and generates value in different ways depending on where opportunities emerge.”
It continues: “Each pathway creates value differently: some fill skills shortages where they studied; others bring skills and international networks home, while others connect countries through careers that span borders.”
Main beneficiaries of Stayers
Most Stayers are employed in the Big Four (Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US), and consequently the Big Four benefit the most from their economic and talent contribution. The report elaborates:
“[Stayers’] value is concentrated in The United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. While the ‘Big Four’ host just 35% of the world’s international students, they account for almost 60% of total first-year economic output. Together, these four destinations generate an estimated USD 1 trillion in lifetime value from the international students that graduated in 2024. For reference, that’s equal to the 2025 GDP of Switzerland.”
After the Big Four, Germany, Türkiye, France, and Ireland are the next largest beneficiaries of international students who stay on to work.
Challenging the narrative
Tayyeb Shah, President, European Association for International Education (EAIE) notes:
“With internationalisation under pressure in many countries around the world, and narratives circulating that suggest hosting international students brings more burdens than benefits, the findings from the 2026 Talent Beyond Borders report offer a crucially important, data-supported indication that this perspective could not be further from the truth. 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 this mobile talent. International student mobility is a public good that deserves ongoing support from the key stakeholders benefitting from these dynamics.”
To download the full study report, readers can use this link.
For additional background, please see:
- “How can we tell the story of international education?”
- “Netherlands: Government-commissioned research finds that international students contribute much more than the public cost of hosting them”
- “OECD: International students may be underinformed about job prospects in top destinations”
- “Germany recovers an 8x return on investment in international students”
The post One cohort of international graduates will contribute US$1.7 trillion to host country economies throughout their careers appeared first on ICEF Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment.