Over 115,000 foreign students in Dutch higher education; Up 12%

A total of 115,068 international students are registered in Dutch higher education this academic year, up 12 percent compared to the previous academic year, Nuffic reported in its annual report on degree mobility. "Covid does not appear to have a strong dampening effect on total incoming diploma mobility," Nuffic researcher Astrid Ellferich said.

Most international students came to the Netherlands from other European Union countries. Like in previous years, Germany is the leading country of origin. Italy is in second place, like in the past three years. And Romania, in fight place last year, is now in third place. China fell outside the top three this year.

The number of students from Poland increased the most at 47 percent, followed by Spain (34 percent), Romania (30 percent), France (19 percent), and Greece (19 percent). The number of students from other EU countries increased by 14 percent. The number of international students from outside Europe increased by 7.6 percent.

"In total, we received students from 68 countries. Three-quarters of the international students are European," said researcher Soaradh Favier.