Over the years, the number of students opting to study abroad has increased owing to the kind of opportunities available. While Covid-19 brought about a hit in the sector, the total number of Indian students studying abroad will stand at around 1.8 million by 2024 as things become normal, according to a report by RedSeer. “While the demand for studying abroad is increasing and the outflow is also increasing, student expenditure is also soaring and is likely to touch $75-85 billion by 2024 which will be an increase of more than two times from 2019. This shows the high potential of this segment in the coming years,” the report added.
What’s more, in 2019 alone around 4,20,000 students headed out but the total number of applicants was around 1.7 times at about 7,00,000. This massive increase is due to factors such as the rise in GDP in the past two decades leading to more consumption and awareness about education abroad, the report stated. Further, with the Indian students being well versed with English, there is a strong culture of students studying abroad in anglophone destinations. These factors have majorly contributed to this behavioural pattern wherein students aspire to go abroad in the search of a better quality of life.
Interestingly, the growth in the outflow rates has outpaced domestic student growth by six times in 2016-19 which shows the massive demand that this segment is witnessing. The report highlighted that currently, 7,70,000 Indian students are studying abroad from 4,40,000 in 2016 which is a 20% growth. On the other hand, the growth in the domestic region has been merely 3% when compared to the demand for education abroad.
With more students aspiring to study abroad in anticipation of better scope, the sector is likely to see unparalleled growth in the coming years.
