• According to a study published on Monday and carried out for Campus France, a public body responsible for foreign students, their annual net economic contribution is around 1.35 billion euros.

  • Taking into account their expenses and registration fees, these young people inject a total of more than 5 billion euros into the economy each year and cost the community around 3.7 billion euros (scholarships, teaching expenses , housing assistance, etc.).

  • Their stay in France even has a long-term impact, because the overwhelming majority of foreign students want to return to France for tourism and continue to consume local food products.

We remember the words of Xavier Bertrand during the last presidential campaign: then a candidate for the LR nomination, he proposed to "halve the immigration of students who come to France", insinuating that the latter weighed on the finances of our country.

An idea that is undermined by a study * by Campus France (national agency responsible for promoting French higher education abroad) made public on Monday.

According to this, foreign students bring 5 billion euros to the French economy each year, while public expenditure to accommodate them amounts to 3.7 billion.

"This results in a net economic contribution of 1.3 billion euros per year", reveals Olivier Marichalar, head of the studies department at Campus France.

A very high direct economic contribution

If international students generate a lot of income, it is firstly because they spend an average of 867 euros per month for accommodation, food, clothing, going out... And they pay an average of 2,822 euros tuition fee**.

With big differences: students in business school pay an average of 10,700 euros per year, those in art school 4,000, and those at university 1,100.

The fact that 48% of foreign students work during their stay, in order to finance their studies, also generates social security contributions (a gain of 375 million euros for France).

They also spend to travel (which brings in 461 million euros per year), to train in French (73 million euros) and to finance their visas or residence permits (35 million).

Economic benefits even in the long term

Moreover, it is not only the presence of foreign students on our soil that brings us money.

Because it involves the visit of their family or their friends.

The survey shows that 38% of respondents received visits from relatives, for an average of 23 days in France.

"And again, the economic impact of loved ones has decreased during the pandemic, because many travel plans have been postponed," notes Olivier Marichalar.

Receipts for French tourism could have reached 628 million euros over the year, and were only 392 million.

And since most of them will keep good memories of their stay in France, it's a safe bet that they will want to come back and will consume again.

Moreover, 88% of respondents to the study expressed their wish to return this time as a tourist, and 80% want to continue to consume French food products.

Hard indeed to be able to do without camembert once you have tasted it.

A target of 500,000 foreign students for 2027

On the other side of the scale, public spending to accommodate them, if not thin, therefore remains well below revenue.

Education expenditure amounts to 3.1 billion euros, to which are added 247.2 million euros in social security expenditure, 206.6 million euros in housing aid, 86.9 million euros in the cost of state services intended for their visit (funding for Campus France and diplomatic services), and 53 million euros in grants from the French government.



Would the economic impact of international students be so positive that we seek to attract even more?

“The capture of their resources cannot be what motivates international trade.

This is one more argument, ”says Donatienne Hissard, the general manager of Campus France.

The government also has great ambitions in this area, because it is targeting 500,000 foreign students on our soil in 2027. “A realistic objective”, according to Donatienne Hissard.

Especially since their number was growing rapidly last year: + 8% in 2021-2022 compared to the previous year.

“We have crossed the 400,000 mark,” rejoices the director general of Campus France.

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* Study carried out from February 23 to April 12, 2022 by Kantar public for Campus France, on a sample of 992 foreign students who have resided in France for the past three years, according to the quota method.

These were representative of the 302,863 foreign students in France at that time.

** Since 2019, the Welcome to France Plan provides for the implementation of differentiated registration fees for non-EU students.

The latter must pay more than French and European students.

A measure which, however, only concerns a small number of students for the moment, as universities are reluctant to apply these differentiated fees.

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