 "Why fewer Indian students are opting to study in Canada, the US and the UK")
The number of Indians studying abroad is declining.
This decrease is particularly witnessed in Canada, the US, the UK and Australia, according to the Union Education Ministry.
According to the data shared by the Bureau of Immigration on Indians who cited “Study/Education” as their purpose of travel abroad, Indian students going to these three countries alone recorded a 27 per cent decline in 2024.
This is likely due to stricter visa restrictions, higher financial requirements, an increase in visa rejections, and diplomatic tensions.
What did the Ministry say?
According to the data, there was a post-pandemic rise in the number of Indian students going abroad to study.
A total of 7,50,365 Indians were studying abroad in 2022, and in 2023, the number increased to 892,989. However, 2024 witnessed a 15 per cent decline, with 7,59,064 Indians studying abroad.
The data, broken down by country, showed a startling 41 per cent drop in the number of students opting to study in Canada, from 2,33,532 in 2023 to 1,37,608 in 2024.
At the same time, student migration to the US fell 13 per cent from 234,473 to 204,058 while it fell 27 per cent to 98,890 in the UK.
The total numbers for these three nations fell sharply from 604,926 in 2023 to 440,556 in 2024, a 27 per cent decrease in a single year.
The number of students in Australia decreased by 12 per cent between 2023 and 2024, from 78,093 to 68,572.
However, with 2,301 fewer students, China has experienced the biggest drop. The number of Indians studying in China also fluctuated significantly post COVID-19, ranging from 1,967 in 2022 to 7,279 in 2023 and then down to 4,978 in 2024.
There was also a small drop in the Philippines, where there were 8,101 students in 2024 compared to 11,261 in 2022.
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What’s behind the decline?
Tighter immigration rules, visa denials, and study visa regulations in some of the most popular countries—such as Canada, the UK, the US, and even Australia—are probably responsible for this.
The diplomatic tensions between Delhi and Ottawa act as a backdrop for the decline.
A major diplomatic crisis arose in September 2023 when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of orchestrating a plot to kill Sikh extremist activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian citizen.
Canada recalled 41 Indian diplomats in October of that year after the Indian government declared it would remove their diplomatic immunity and their families’ security precautions.
Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada, a government agency that deals with international students, strengthened its regulations at the same time by giving it the power to revoke employment and study permits under some circumstances.
In October 2024, amid charges and rebuttals surrounding Nijjar’s murder, relations further soured as both countries expelled each other’s diplomats.
Many Indian students reconsidered studying in the US last year due to uncertainty around the Trump administration’s plans, which was probably the cause for the fall in Indian students preferring the US.
In the case of the UK, the numbers dropped possibly due to stricter visa regulations and post-study work policies.
The UK government said last year that, with the exception of postgraduate research courses and courses with government-funded scholarships, international students enrolled in courses beginning in January 2024 will no longer be permitted to bring family members.
The decline of Indian students studying in Australia can be attributed in large part to recent changes to policies, such as increased visa costs, more stringent rules, and concerns over housing affordability.
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Which are the preferred countries?
While traditional destinations saw steep falls, several other countries, like Germany, Russia, Uzbekistan and Bangladesh, registered significant increases in Indian students.
Germany saw a rise in student numbers, with 34,702 students in 2024 compared to 23,296 in 2023 and 20,684 in 2022.
Uzbekistan and Bangladesh saw rises of 9,915 and 8,864, respectively.
Over the previous three years, the number of Indian students travelling to Russia has significantly increased, according to the data. The number of students climbed from 19,784 in 2022 to 23,503 in 2023 and then to 31,444 in 2024.
The number of Indian students studying in France has also increased, rising from 6,406 in 2022 to 7,484 in 2023 and 8,536 in 2024 and beyond.
Malaysia, Singapore, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, and Ireland are among the other countries on the list that are favoured.
The number of students in New Zealand increased significantly as well, from 1,605 in 2022 to 7,297 in 2024.
With inputs from agencies
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