Department for Education

Calendar year 2024

UK revenue from education related exports and transnational education activity

Estimates of UK revenue from education-related exports and transnational education (TNE) activity.

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• Published: 2 July 2026

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Background information

This release presents annual estimates of UK revenue from education related exports and transnational education (TNE) activity for 2023 and 2024. TNE activity includes education programmes that take place outside the UK, either through partner institutions, or directly through distance learning or international campuses.

In last years’ publication (2025), DfE implemented an improved statistical methodology, implementing several new changes. These improvements were in response to recommendations set out by LSE Consulting (opens in new tab) in 2023, who were commissioned on behalf of the Department for Business and Trade to review the methodology. For transparency, figures for 2021 and 2022 were presented using the previous and new methodologies. This year, figures for 2021 and onwards are presented using the new methodology only. 

For this year’s release, we have introduced three new HE-related tables to the publication (Tables 12 to 15). These are 1) breakdown of HE international student exports by nation and English region, 2) HE international student exports for each of the top 10 countries of origin and 3) the average per-international student export figures (reported in academic and calendar years). 

We continue to welcome ideas and suggestions on other available sources of data and information that could be used to inform and improve our estimates of the value of exports in existing and new areas of education related activity.

We invite users to provide feedback on the new tables/figures, please send this to he.statistics@education.gov.uk by 1st December 2026

 

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1. UK revenue from education related exports and TNE activity

Data from 2021 onwards is not directly comparable with earlier years due to a methodological change; comparisons with figures for earlier years before 2021 should be made with caution. Users are advised to compare trends within consistent periods only.

Total UK education related exports and TNE activity was estimated to be £36.7 billion in 2024, an increase of £7.2 billion in nominal terms since 2021. Over the same period, in nominal terms, education related exports have increased by £5.8 billion while TNE activity has increased by £1.4 billion.

Table 2 shows the breakdown of revenue streams for 2021-2024. Table 3 displays year-on-year growth rates by revenue stream of UK education related exports and TNE activity

Total UK education exports and TNE activity grew by 2.5% between 2023 and 2024, compared to 10.8% growth rate from 2022 to 2023. Between 2023 and 2024, education related exports grew by 1.1%, while transnational education (TNE) activity grew by 17.1%.

We have not published year-on-year growth rates for 2020/21 due to the change in methodology during this time. 

Higher education

Higher education exports grew by £0.1 billion (0.5%) from £26.4 billion to £26.6 billion between 2023 and 2024,. The low growth rate in HE exports can partly be attributed to the reduction in international HE student enrolments since 2022/23. 

Further education

Between 2023 and 2024, FE exports increased by £0.02 billion (8.1%) from £0.2 billion to £0.3 billion. 

Schools

Between 2023 and 2024, schools exports grew by £0.1 billion (7.4%). 

English language training

Between 2023 and 2024 ELT revenues grew by £0.37 billion (3.04%) from £0.7 billion to £0.8 billion.

Education related products and services

Between 2023 and 2024 exports for education related products and services increased by £0.1 billion (2.8%) from £4.2 billion to £4.3 billion. Education related publishing is the largest sub-category of this revenue stream and totalled £3.2 billion in 2024. 

Transnational education activity

TNE revenues increased by £0.5 billion (17.1%) from £3.1 billion to £3.6 billion, between 2023 and 2024. £0.4bn (83.6%) of this increase can be attributed to growth in schools and early years TNE activities.

 

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2. Share of UK education related exports and TNE activity by value of revenue stream

Data from 2021 onwards is not directly comparable with earlier years due to a methodological change; comparisons with figures for earlier years before 2021 should be made with caution. Users are advised to compare trends within consistent periods only. 

Higher Education (excl. TNE) is the largest revenue stream with £26.6 billion of education related exports, accounting for 72.4% of total exports for 2024. In comparison, Further Education remains the smallest revenue stream with a value of £0.3 billion or 0.7% of total exports. 

After Higher Education, the largest revenue streams in 2024 in descending order are: Education products and services (£4.3 billion or 11.8% ); TNE activity (£3.6 billion or 9.9%);  Schools (£1.1 billion or 3.1%) and English Language Training (£0.8 billion or 2.1%).

The increase between 2020 and 2021 for education products and services is primarily driven by a change in methodology rather than underlying growth. Users should therefore focus on trends within consistent periods (pre-2021 or post-2021) 

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3. UK education related exports and TNE activity by revenue stream

Data from 2021 onwards is not directly comparable with earlier years due to a methodological change; comparisons with figures for earlier years before 2021 should be made with caution. Users are advised to compare trends within consistent periods only. 

Higher education

Out of the total £26.6 billion export revenues generated by Higher Education in 2024, £23.9 billion or 89.9% can be attributed to the tuition fees and living expenditure of non-UK students.

Further education

Since 2021, Further Education exports have grown steadily reaching £0.3 billion in 2024.

Schools

Schools exports totalled £1.1 billion in 2024. 

English language training

ELT exports have grown year-on-year since 2021, reaching £0.8 billion in 2024. 

Education related products and services

The new methodology increased our coverage of the product and service sector's exports, which have now seen steady increases in revenue each year since 2021. Total exports in this sector were £4.3 billion in 2024. 

Transnational education activity

Transnational education (TNE) revenues experienced strong growth between 2023 and 2024, increasing by 17.1% from £3.1 billion to £3.6 billion. 

Since 2021, Schools TNE have seen the largest growth in absolute terms, having grown from a total of £1.44 billion in 2021 to £2.0 billion in 2024. In relative terms, Early Years TNE has been the fastest growing category and has increased significantly since 2021, with exports totalling £0.8 billion in 2024.  Meanwhile, Further Education has seen the smallest growth in both relative and absolute terms, with exports totalling £0.01 billion in 2024.

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4. International Higher Education student exports by nation, English region and country of origin

This section presents estimates of higher education international student exports broken down by nation and English region as well for the top 10 countries of origin. The estimated average per-student export figures are also reported in academic and calendar years.

In 2024, international HE students in England generated an estimated £20.3 billion in exports (or 84.9% of the UK’s total international HE student export revenue). The equivalent figures for Scotland was £2.5 billion (10.5%); Wales £0.7 billion (3.1%) and Northern Ireland £0.4 billion (1.5%).

International HE students generated the highest estimated export revenues in London, at £7.2 billion or 30.0% of the UK's total international HE student export revenue, whereas the North East experienced the lowest export revenues at £1.2 billion or 4.9% of the UK's total international HE student export revenue.  

In 2024, India was the top country of origin generating £5.3 billion in HE international student exports for the UK. This was followed by China and Nigeria which in 2024 generated £4.9 billion and £1.7 billion respectively in international HE students exports for the UK. 

In 2024, an international HE student generated, on average, an estimated £33,400 in export revenue. This was an increase of £1,800 from 2023.

In AY 2024/25, an international HE student generated, on average, an estimated £34,250 in export revenues. This was an increase of £1,290 from AY 2023/24.

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Contact us

If you have a specific enquiry about UK revenue from education related exports and transnational education activity statistics and data:

Higher Education Analysis

Email: he.statistics@education.gov.uk
Contact name: Higher Education Analysis Team

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