UKÄ's report states that the pandemic led to a sharp decline in international student mobility in terms of both incoming and outgoing students to Sweden. However, in 2022/23, Mobility numbers began returning to pre-pandemic levels. In total, almost 41 700 incoming students studied at Swedish higher education institutions in the academic year 2022/23, an increase of 5 percent compared with the previous academic year. During the same period, just over 20 900 Swedes studied abroad, which is an increase of 4 percent compared to the 2021/22 academic year.
UKÄ's report shows that the national trend is that the number of incoming students is increasing every year, while the number of outgoing students is decreasing over time and is still at a lower level compared to the years before the pandemic.
Lund University also experienced a sharp decrease in the number of outgoing exchange students during the first year of the pandemic due to travel restrictions and the cancellation of exchange activities. However, already in the following academic year, 2021/2022, the number of outbound students was back to normal levels and has since increased. The prognosis for the number of outgoing students in 2023/2024 points to a continued increase.
The number of outgoing students at LU has recovered quickly after the pandemic, with an increase of 32%, which is higher than the national average of 28%. The trend is upwards, and a further increase of 33% is expected for the coming academic year. Also, in terms of inbound mobility, Lund University has recovered faster than the Swedish average, with an increase of 26% compared to the national average of 12%.
The successful recovery is explained by the University's strategic work. When the Swedish Migration Agency changed its procedures for residence permits in Sweden, it led to longer processing times and higher costs for the application process for non-European students at all universities in the country. However, Lund University's new migration officer played a key role by maintaining a continuous dialog with the Swedish Migration Agency and keeping colleagues, partner universities and students well informed. To meet the extended processing times, Lund University has also taken additional measures, such as adjusting the dates of the application periods.
Graph of incoming and outgoing students
You can see that the curves for incoming and outgoing students have approached each other and are stable at the same levels since the academic year 2019/2020. This means that we are approaching the desired balance in the figures between outgoing and incoming exchange students.
The improved balance is the result of a systematic effort to deepen strategically important exchange agreements and terminate exchange agreements with an imbalance between incoming and outgoing students. The prognosis for the number of outgoing exchange students shows an increase and the curves are likely to converge further in the academic year 2023/2024.
Most popular destinations for outgoing students
1090 of the University's students went on exchange to another country in the academic year 2022/2023. This academic year (2023/2024) the University is expected to have around 1500 outgoing students.
The international destination with the most outbound students from Lund University is the UK. Other popular destinations are Canada, Australia, France and the USA. These countries accounted for over half of all outbound students, and overall 55% of students studied in Europe.
The pandemic has made Europe amore popular destinationthan before the pandemic. Previously, interest was highest in overseas destinations. During the pandemic, mobility to Europe increased significantly and this trend continues.
Incoming students to Lund University come mainly from Europe
During the academic year 2022/2023, 1468 incoming students started studies at Lund University. This academic year, 1507 incoming students are expected to come.
According to UKÄ's report, Sweden receives most exchange students from Europe (76%), followed by Asia (13%) as the second largest region. At Lund University, the picture is somewhat different, with 65% of the exchange students coming from European partner universities, followed by North America (15%) and Asia (12%). A contributing reason why Lund University receives more students from North American partner universities is the University's largest and most comprehensive exchange agreement with the University of California, which includes about 70-100 places for incoming exchange students per academic year.
Overall, the figures for Lund University show a very positive development and the University continues to attract and send students all over the world.