International student headcount drops by a third in South Africa

Protests, pandemic and visa troubles explain plummeting numbers from 2014 to 2021, says university chief

Student protests, Covid-19 and visa troubles have contributed to a slide in international students coming to South Africa, the head of the country’s university umbrella body has said.

Phethiwe Matutu, chief executive of Universities South Africa, was responding to data published by Statistics South Africa last week showing that international student numbers—including both undergraduates and postgraduates—dropped by more than a third between 2014 and 2021.