More than 1.2 million Indian students were enrolled in higher education abroad in 2025, according to India's Ministry of External Affairs. India overtook China years ago as the world's largest source of international students.
But that figure is down about 5.7% from 1.33 million a year earlier, the first decline after a decade of rapid growth, the education-sector publication ICEF Monitor reported.
The drop is sharpest in the U.S. The number of Indian students there fell 7% from a year earlier to 352,644 in February 2026, according to Student and Exchange Visitor Information System data that India's foreign ministry presented to parliament.
The same data showed U.S. F-1 student visa issuances to Indians falling by more than a third between May and August 2025, after Washington expanded visa screening and added social-media vetting.
The U.K. is sliding too. In a survey by the British Universities International Liaison Association reported by Business Standard, 76% of universities recorded a drop in Indian enrollments for the January intake. The QS Global Student Flows report on India forecasts that combined enrollment across the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia, the so-called "big four," will fall by an average of 0.5% a year through 2030.
