UNESCO’s first Higher Education Global Trends Report shows that the number of students enrolled in higher education worldwide has more than doubled over the past two decades, reaching 269 million in 2024. International mobility has tripled over the same period, with nearly 7.3 million students studying abroad, half of them hosted in European and North American countries. Women now outnumber men in higher education but lag behind at doctoral level. Serious geographical inequalities remain with lower enrolment and completion rates in regions such as sub-Saharan Africa.
“This new report shows increasing demand for higher education, which plays an irreplaceable role in building sustainable societies. Yet this expansion does not always translate into equitable opportunities, highlighting the need for innovative financing models to deliver quality, inclusive higher education. Through major initiatives such as the Global Convention on Higher Education and the Qualifications Passport, UNESCO will continue to support countries in delivering high-quality higher education opportunities to everyone”, notes UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany.
Today’s report, which includes new data from 146 countries, shows that the number of students enrolled in higher education worldwide has increased from about 100 million in 2000 to 269 million in 2024, representing 43% of the population in age of attending higher education (typically 18-24 years old).
However, this growth masks stark regional disparities, with 80% of young people in Western Europe and Northern America enrolled in higher education, 59% in Latin America and the Caribbean, 37% in the Arab States region, 30% in South and West Asia, and 9% in sub-Saharan Africa.
Private institutions continue to account for a third of global enrollment, with the highest share in Latin America and the Caribbean (49% in 2023). In countries such as Brazil, Chile, Japan and the Republic of Korea, 4 in every 5 students attends a private higher education institution. The report shows that only one third of countries legally mandate tuition-free public higher education.
Completion of studies has not increased at the same pace as enrolment, with the global gross graduation ratio only rising from 22% in 2013 to 27% in 2024.
Increased international mobility and gender equality
The number of students going abroad for higher education has more than tripled over the past two decades, from 2.1 million in 2000 to nearly 7.3 million in 2023. Yet mobility benefits only 3% of the global cohort, with significant regional disparities.
Seven countries (United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Canada, the Russian Federation and France) continue to host half of all international students. Countries such as Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates are becoming increasingly popular – with mobility numbers up at least fivefold in the past decade, they now closely trail France.
International students increasingly prefer to study within their region: in Latin America and the Caribbean, the share of intra-regional mobility rose from 24% to 43% between 2000–2022, with Argentina as the top destination. Internationally mobile students from the Arab States are increasingly concentrated in the Gulf countries and Jordan, marking a shift from the dominance of Western Europe and North America a decade earlier.
UNESCO plays a major role in promoting international student mobility through its Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education and its regional equivalents, which have already been ratified by 93 countries. The Convention not only establishes fair and transparent recognition of qualifications, but also sets universal standards for quality assurance to ensure trust and confidence in higher education qualifications worldwide.
Women now outnumber men in higher education: globally, there were 114 women enrolled in higher education for every 100 men in 2024. Gender parity has been reached in all regions except sub-Saharan Africa. Central and Southern Asia made strong progress, from 68 women enrolled per 100 men in 2000 to achieving gender parity in 2023. Women remain underrepresented at doctoral level and hold only about one-quarter of senior leadership roles in academia.
Mobility in Central Asia
While accounting for only 6% of the total number of outbound students worldwide, Central Asia experienced the highest outbound mobility rate in 2023 (14.9%), with nearly 1 in every 6 students in the region participating in international mobility. The number of outbound students in the region also rose sharply between 2002 and 2023, more than five-fold. Demand for study abroad is being driven by a combination of factors: in several Central Asian countries, domestic higher education systems cannot keep pace with rising demand and concerns persist about programme quality; a growing middle class has greater capacity to finance overseas study; the prospects of employment opportunities abroad increase the perceived returns to obtaining an international degree after studying; and in some cases, government policies actively encourage outbound mobility – such as in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan has one of the highest outbound mobility rates globally, with close to 65% of students studying abroad.
The Russian Federation remains the primary destination for Central Asian students, which can be attributed to historical and linguistic ties as well as the prestige of higher education institutions.
Equity, quality and financing remain pressing challenges
Despite some progress, only a third of countries have implemented programmes to support under-represented groups’ access to higher education. Countries such as Chile, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mauritius, Mexico, the Philippines and South Africa have reduced or abolished higher education fees for targeted groups.
Despite a nine-fold increase in enrollment from 1% in 2019 to 9% in 2025, refugees still face major obstacles to higher education. A key barrier is the recognition of missing or unverifiable qualifications, particularly in the Global South.
UNESCO works to address this through its Qualifications Passport, a tool to recognize the academic, professional and vocational qualifications of refugees and forcibly displaced people. The UNESCO Qualifications Passport is currently being implemented in Iraq, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe with plans for further expansion, and has already been delivered to hundreds of successful applicants.
Government investment in higher education averages about 0.8% of GDP globally, while fiscal tightening in many contexts is intensifying the strain on higher education institutions, creating a need for innovative financing models in order to deliver quality, inclusive higher education.
Finally, the report notes that the rapid expansion of student numbers in recent decades has put pressure on higher education systems, highlighting the need to ensure quality standards of instruction, and further measures to widen access to higher education to disadvantaged groups while securing equitable and sustainable financing. Digital technologies and artificial intelligence are also reshaping teaching and learning, yet only 1 in every 5 university had a formal artificial intelligence policy in 2025.
Read the full report: UNESCO Higher Education Global Trends Report
///UNESCO, 12 May 2026