Number of foreign students rises 7 percent to top 122,000; Growth is slowing

The number of students coming to the Netherlands from abroad for studies is continuing to rise. The increase is a bit slower than before, according to Nuffic, the organization for the internationalization of education.

Some 122,287 people from abroad will be studying in the Netherlands this academic year. About 70 percent of them are enrolled at a research university, the other 30 percent are enrolled at an applied sciences university.

Compared to last year, the number of foreign students has increased by 7 percent. For the first time in years, the increase held below 10 percent. Nuffic did not provide an analysis explaining the slower increase. It is not clear if there is a connection with the advice some education institutions have given to foreign students, recommending they carefully consider whether they want to come to the Netherlands when a housing shortage makes their chances of finding accommodation uncertain.

Just over 50,000 students from abroad started a study in the Netherlands this academic year. That is a marginally higher than last academic year, when the number of new students jumped 16 percent towards the end of the coronavirus pandemic.

About 15 percent of all students in the Netherlands come from abroad. That figure was 13.7 percent last academic year. The fact that the share of foreign students is now larger is partly because the number of Dutch people enrolling as students has fallen.

The vast majority of foreign students come from Germany. Nuffic said that 22,775 people came to the Netherlands from that country. This is followed by Italy (7,633), Romania (6,717) and China (5,610). The number of students from Spain and Bulgaria has increased rapidly. Partly because of this, Belgium is outside the top five for the first time.

"It is good that Dutch students can study abroad and international students can study here. It is also good for our society and knowledge economy,” said Minister of Education Robbert Dijkgraaf. “Strategic sectors such as ICT and technology are eager for international talent. That is why I think I am very pleased to see that engineering is the fastest growing field of study when it comes to international students. International students who stay here for a longer period of time after their studies can make a wonderful contribution to the sustainable growth of our country."