THE FIGURE OF THE WEEK. They spend 5 billion euros per year in France while their cost to public finances is 3.7 billion.
By The Point.fr
© XAVIER LEOTY / MAXPPP / PHOTOPQR/SUD OUEST/MAXPPP
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Sccording to a survey carried out by the Kantar Public Institute on behalf of Campus France, the presence of foreign students constitutes an annual net contribution of 1.35 billion euros for the French economy. The number of foreign students enrolled in higher education for the 2021-2022 school year stood at 392,630, up 8% over one year and 21% over five years.
32% of them are from North Africa and the Middle East, 24% from sub-Saharan Africa, 20% from Europe, 16% from Asia and Oceania and 8% from the Americas. The average monthly budget of a foreign student is estimated at 867 euros, including 413 euros devoted to accommodation, 181 euros to the costs of daily living (food, clothing, etc.), 46 euros to the payment of mutual insurance and insurance, 38 euros for leisure and 25 euros for daily travel. That is 2.8 billion euros spent annually by foreign students, to which must be added university registration fees (873 million), their transport expenses to travel to France (461 million), the tourist expenses of relatives who have come to to visit (392 million) or the social security contributions related to the jobs they exercise during their study stay (375 million), which is the case for 48% of them.
positive balance
Total revenue thus amounts to 5 billion euros, while the cost to public finances of hosting foreign students is estimated at 3.7 billion euros, 3.1 billion of which is attributable to education expenses, 247 million for social security expenses, 207 million for housing aid and 53 million for government scholarships.
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In the United States, the annual contribution of foreign students was estimated at 28.4 billion dollars, an amount clearly higher than that observed in France, which is explained in particular by the very high registration fees in American universities.
