Some numbers reflecting the scope of international students and the creative industries.
International students’ population size
In 2019/20, over 20% of the UK student population in higher education institutions were international students, amounting to nearly 540,000 international students, with 73% coming to the UK from outside the UK (Universities UK, 2021). However, there was a decline of international students from EU countries from 2018/19 to 2019/20, reflecting the impact that Brexit, COVID-19, and the prevalence of international competitors have had on UK’s higher education institutions, which must be taken into account since the UK plans to achieve a increase in its international student population to 600,000 by the year 2030 (Hillman, 2021).
International students’ economic contribution
In year 2018/19 first-year students alone had a net contribution of £25.9 billion to the UK economy. Nearly 273,000 first-year students contributed to the amount, with an net impact of £102,000 per non-EU student and £71,000 per EU student, £95,000 per international student on average. (Hillman, 2021).
The creative industries economic contribution
In 2018, the Creative sector contributed £111.7 of the UK economy, which is 5.8% of Gross Value Added (GVA), and has grown 5x quicker than the UK economy as a whole (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, 2020).
References
Department of Digital, Culture Media and Sport. (2020). DCMS Sectors Economic Estimates 2018 (provisional): Gross Value Added. [online] London: GOV.UK. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/959053/DCMS_Sectors_Economic_Estimates_GVA_2018_V2.pdf.
Hillman, N. (2021). International students are worth £28.8 billion to the UK. [online] HEPI. Available at: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2021/09/09/international-students-are-worth-28-8-billion-to-the-uk/.
Universities UK. (2021). International student recruitment data. [online] Available at: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/universities-uk-international/explore-uuki/international-student-recruitment/international-student-recruitment-data.