Inbound Insight: Nepal’s growth continues

In this Inbound Insight series article, we revisit the Nepalese outbound student market – one of the world’s fastest-growing and most dynamic. Since our original 2023 analysis, Nepal has broken through the 110,000-student mark for new annual outbound departures, experienced shifts in destination preferences, and become one of the most closely-watched recruitment markets in international higher education.

Nepal’s student exodus

The exact number of Nepalese students currently studying abroad is not easily captured in a single global figure, as it relies on estimates from Nepal’s Ministry of Education on the issuance of No Objection Certificates, UNESCO data, and host-country reports. When we wrote our original Inbound Insight on Nepal in March 2023, UNESCO data showed approximately 95,000 Nepalese students studying abroad – double the figure from five years earlier. However, it is clear that since then, outbound student numbers have continued to grow. In the 2023/24 financial year, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) issued over 110,000 No Objection Certificates (NOCs) – the mandatory government permits required for any Nepalese citizen wishing to study overseas or remit tuition funds abroad. It is important to remember that NOC figures represent new departures, so the number of Nepalese students studying abroad is likely significantly higher.

Nepal’s outbound mobility ratio – the share of tertiary-level students studying internationally – stood at approximately 19–21% in 2021–22. The equivalent figure for India is around 1.3%; for China, around 1.9%. Nepal’s ratio is roughly ten times higher than either of its much larger neighbours. In practice, nearly one in every five Nepalese students pursuing higher education does so outside the country.

Growth in Nepal’s outbound student numbers is expected to continue, although the British Council’s 2024 mobility forecast, covering 30 major sending markets, categorises Nepal as a “middle ground” market – a market with moderate conditions for growth and low/moderate levels of macroeconomic risk.

Push factors: why Nepalese students leave

• A higher education system under strain Nepal’s domestic higher education system continues to fall far short of student demand – and expectations.
• Youth unemployment – Nepal’s youth unemployment rate remains persistently high – around 20.6% according to the World Bank, with approximately 400,000 young people entering the labour market each year.
• Emigration culture – The country’s economy has long been sustained by remittances from overseas workers — according to the International Fund for Agricultural Development, by 2023, remittances contributed an estimated 26.6% of GDP, around $11 billion. Study abroad sits within this broader emigration culture: families that have already sent members abroad for work are often familiar with the processes and willing to fund international education as a pathway to long-term settlement.

Destination trends

In recent years, the Nepalese market has shifted away from Canada and has seen a significant increase in the number of students choosing to study in Japan, the UK and the US. The number of Nepalese students studying in Australia continues to grow, although at a more modest rate over the past three years.

What Nepalese students look for

The right to work during studies is a critical, and often, the deciding factor, for Nepalese students, the majority of whom need employment income to manage finances and service the debt incurred to fund their studies. Post-study work visa options carry significant weight in destination selection: the UK’s two-year Graduate Route and Australia’s post-study work visas are major pull factors, as is Japan’s strong post-graduation employment market.

Data from the latest Global Student Living Index (2025 Q4) shows that the most important factor for Nepalese students when choosing their accommodation is the travel time to their place of study (81%), followed by budget (64%).

Struggles

Global Student Living Index 2025 Q4 data on student struggles adds some important insight. While Nepalese students are arriving in the UK in record numbers, the Index suggests they are doing so with a distinct and acute set of financial pressures. Importantly, the way in which Nepalese students fund their rent sets them apart from the broader international student cohort. Students from Nepal are far less likely to rely on parental support (57% vs 73% of all international students) and far more likely to be funding their studies through student loans (28% vs 12%) and part-time work (17% vs 8%) — a profile that reflects both limited family wealth and a greater dependence on income they have to actively earn. It is no coincidence, then, that finding part-time work is the single biggest challenge reported by Nepalese students, cited by 76.7% – more than double the rate among the international student population as a whole (35.3%). In a context where students are shouldering their own costs with a weaker family safety net beneath them, the stakes of failing to find work are high.

These financial pressures appear to be compounding into broader wellbeing challenges. The figures on budgeting effectively (40.0% vs 29.8%), being able to afford the lifestyle they want (40.0% vs 29.4%), and having enough money to get by (40.0% vs 23.9%) all highlight that Nepalese students are navigating UK student life on significantly tighter margins than their peers. And the data suggests this impacts wellbeing more broadly – Nepalese students also report higher rates of homesickness (40.0% vs 24.7%), stress and anxiety (43.3% vs 37.3%), depression (16.7% vs 12.5%) and difficulty meeting new people (50.0% vs 36.3%). Concerningly, students from Nepal are also more likely (13.3%) than all international students (9.5%) to say they struggle to know where to find support or help. For accommodation operators welcoming growing numbers of Nepalese residents, this highlights the importance of pastoral support, community-building programmes, and signposting of financial and wellbeing support.