Nigeria became the third-biggest sender of students abroad
Tertiary students studying in another country, by home country, 2018 vs 2023. Most 2023 figures are UNESCO estimates.
- 1. One in ten in Japan will be foreign by 2070
- 2. Japan's foreign residents have doubled since 2012, passing 4 million
- 3. Jakarta, not Tokyo, is the world's largest city
- 4. Two in three newly licensed UK doctors qualified abroad
- 5. Iran dropped from top refugee host to fifth in 2025
- 6. Egypt has more asylum seekers than Germany, Spain and Italy
- 7. Chad rose from 15th to 6th among refugee hosts
- 8. Türkiye overtook France in hosting foreign students
- 9. Uzbekistan's university enrolment rose from 8% to 57%
- 10. Japan rose from ninth to second as Vietnamese emigrants' home
- 11. South Korea turned from student sender into student host
- 12. Nigeria became the third-biggest sender of students abroad
Nigerians studying at universities abroad in 2023 (UNESCO estimate), nearly double the 76,337 of 2018.
Nigeria's world rank among senders, passing nine countries including Germany, Viet Nam and the US. Only China and India send more.
Rise in Nigerians studying abroad in 2023 alone (+33,788). That year Nigeria sent more students abroad than Germany or Viet Nam.
the numbers & method
| 2018 (k) | 2023 (k) | |
|---|---|---|
| China | 1,000.3 | 1,076.0 |
| India | 382.7 | 833.8 |
| Nigeria | 76.3 | 146.3 |
| Germany | 122.5 | 128.3 |
| Viet Nam | 108.4 | 128.2 |
| Uzbekistan | 42.3 | 120.6 |
| United States | 86.0 | 118.2 |
| France | 99.7 | 115.0 |
| Pakistan | 56.5 | 114.8 |
| Nepal | 82.2 | 108.3 |
Claim types Fact · Estimate
UIS indicator OE.5T8.40510 'Total outbound internationally mobile tertiary students studying abroad, all countries, both sexes (number)', read from the UIS public data API (api.uis.unesco.org/api/public/data/indicators?indicator=OE.5T8.40510). Outbound counts are compiled from host countries' reports of incoming students. Values for 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023 carry the UIS_EST qualifier (UIS estimates); 2018 and 2020 values, and China's 2023 value, are not flagged. Nigeria: 2018 76,337; 2019 69,369; 2020 74,413; 2021 85,332; 2022 112,498 (8th); 2023 146,286 (3rd). World ranks are progrss calculations over every country in the UIS table (210 countries): Nigeria 12th in 2018, 3rd in 2023. The chart shows the ten biggest senders of 2023 in thousands; positions on the chart are among these ten, so Nigeria appears 8th for 2018 (11th was Saudi Arabia, 76,757; Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia were above Nigeria in 2018 and are below the top ten in 2023). Uzbekistan was 3rd in 2022 (141,000) before falling to 120,563. Growth rates are progrss calculations. Licence: UIS data, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. UIS data currently ends in 2023.
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