The number of Indian students enrolled at foreign universities in 2024 has surpassed the data of the past six years and doubled since 2019. But, the uptick in the deaths of those pursuing their higher studies abroad is a worrying factor.
One Indian student died abroad almost every second day in 2023 and 2024. In 2023, 170 Indian students died in accidents or due to medical causes while this number, so far, is 124 in 2024. And the figures have only increased, shows data logged between 2019 and 2024.
ENROLMENT JUMPS FROM 6.75 LAKH IN 2019 TO 13.35 LAKH IN 2024
Official data based on Indian missions/posts abroad by the ministry of external affairs shows that in 2024, a total of 13.35 lakh students moved abroad for higher studies. In 2019, this number was 6.75 lakh. In 2023, this figure was 13.18 lakh.
A total of 60,81,577 students have left the country between 2019 and 2024 for higher studies, including 17,86,825 moving to Canada. The US was the second-best preference of Indian students for higher studies with 15,17,547 students. With 6,70,875 Indian students moving to Australia, the country was the third-most preferred.
The number of students going to Canada has increased over the years and remains almost similar in 2023 and 2024. Those moving to the US and Australia, meanwhile, have dropped this year as compared to the last.
In 2024, Canada — with 4.27 lakh Indian students — was the most preferred for higher studies followed by the US at 3.37 lakh and UK at 1.85 lakh.
The ministry said the total number of Indian students in foreign universities across the world is estimated to be 1.33 million as on January 01, 2024.
Ukraine, which is witnessing a war with Russia, has recorded a significant drop in Indian students moving there for higher studies. In 2022, a total of 23,515 Indian students moved to the country, which dropped to only 2,510 students this year.
Russia, meanwhile, witnessed an improvement in student enrolment from India even 2024 recorded fewer numbers than 2023.
Neighbouring China has also seen a significant drop in Indian student enrolment. In 2019, at least 15,207 Indian students went to the country for higher studies that dropped to 8,580 in 2024.
In 2024, 65 Indian students went to Sri Lanka for higher studies while 2,134 went to Nepal. At least 8,534 Indian students went to Bangladesh.
In 2023, at least 170 Indian students died abroad in accidents or due to medical causes – one every second day on average. In 2024, so far, 124 students have died due to similar reasons.
The number of students who died abroad has increased over the years. Between 2019 and 2024, a total of 614 students died abroad in accidents or due to medical causes. In addition to this, at least 18 more were killed in violence during this period.
In fact, 2024 marks the highest deaths at seven with four reported in Canada alone. In 2023, five Indian students were killed abroad and four were in the US.
Out of the 124 students who died in 2024, 31 were from Canada, 37 from the US, and 13 from Austria. As compared to 33 deaths due to medical causes or accidents in 2023, the US reported 37 deaths this year.
Similarly, in Australia, these deaths increased from 13 in 2024 from nine in 2023 and eight in 2022. The deaths in Canada (31) this year are the lowest as compared to 2022 (41) and 2023 (52).