Sourced indicators on international student mobility and English-taught higher education — the market LIBS students enter. Every figure links to its official source; nothing is estimated or reconstructed.
Every year, millions of families make one of the most important decisions of their lives: sending a son or a daughter to study abroad. And every year, they make that decision surrounded by advertising — rankings paid for, testimonials staged, promises no one intends to measure.
We believe families deserve better. We believe they have a right to verifiable numbers.
That is why this Observatory exists. The indicators you will find here — on international student mobility and destinations, and, as this Observatory grows, costs and outcomes — are drawn from sources you can check yourself: the OECD, Campus France, the Migration Policy Institute. Where a figure is an estimate, we say so. Where data is missing, we prefer a blank to a guess. Nothing here was written to flatter us; some of it, frankly, challenges us. We publish it anyway, because an institution that only shows you flattering numbers is not informing you — it is marketing to you.
This is also a commitment of accountability. If you are a student or a parent weighing a decision about studying in France, ask us anything about these figures — we answer in writing: [email protected]. A written answer can be kept, compared, and held against us. That is precisely the point.
A business school teaches future leaders to make decisions based on evidence. It seems only honest to us that the school itself should be chosen the same way.
Hervé Diaz
President, Groupe École de Commerce de Lyon
Chaque année, des millions de familles prennent l'une des décisions les plus importantes de leur vie : envoyer un fils ou une fille étudier à l'étranger. Et chaque année, elles la prennent entourées de publicité — classements achetés, témoignages mis en scène, promesses que personne n'a l'intention de mesurer.
Nous pensons que les familles méritent mieux. Nous pensons qu'elles ont un droit à des chiffres vérifiables.
C'est la raison d'être de cet Observatoire. Les indicateurs que vous trouverez ici — mobilité étudiante internationale et destinations, puis, à mesure que cet Observatoire grandira, coûts et débouchés — proviennent de sources que vous pouvez contrôler vous-mêmes : l'OCDE, Campus France, le Migration Policy Institute. Quand un chiffre est une estimation, nous le disons. Quand une donnée manque, nous préférons un blanc à une conjecture. Rien ici n'a été écrit pour nous flatter ; certains chiffres, à vrai dire, nous bousculent. Nous les publions quand même — car une institution qui ne vous montre que des chiffres flatteurs ne vous informe pas : elle vous démarche.
C'est aussi un engagement de responsabilité. Si vous êtes étudiant(e) ou parent et qu'une décision se joue, interrogez-nous sur ces chiffres — nous répondons par écrit : [email protected]. Une réponse écrite se conserve, se compare, et peut nous être opposée. C'est exactement le but.
Une école de commerce apprend à ses étudiant(e)s à décider sur des preuves. Il nous semble honnête que l'école elle-même puisse être choisie de la même façon.
Hervé Diaz
Président du Groupe École de Commerce de Lyon
Competing schools pay for clicks on the queries below. We answer them with published data instead. Each block links to the page where we develop the topic.
France hosted 430,000 international students in 2023-2024 (+4% in one year, +17% in five years) and ranks 7th among host countries. Universities still enrol 63% of them, but business schools now account for 15% (+1 point), ahead of engineering schools (8%). Business schools are the type of institution with the strongest growth in international students: +70% in five years. → École de commerce à Lyon, en anglais · Business school in Lyon, in English
French business schools enrolled 62,643 international students in 2023-2024 (+11% in one year). Their international cohort is markedly Asian: 27% from Asia-Oceania, against 13% across all French higher education. Fastest-growing origins over five years: India (+81%), Italy (+108%), Cameroon (+146%), Côte d'Ivoire (+127%). → Bachelor commerce international à Lyon
No single nationality exceeds 10% of France's international students; origins split into North Africa-Middle East (28%), Europe (25%), sub-Saharan Africa (25%), Asia-Oceania (13%) and the Americas (8%), with academic calendars that end in December, March or June. A September-only intake serves this diversity poorly; LIBS runs four intakes a year. → Rentrée décalée en école de commerce à Lyon · Four intakes a year
Among international students in French business schools, 76% are in degree-seeking mobility (47,896 students) and 6% on exchange; 18% were already living in France. A two-year Mastère taught in English with a campus-plus-distance rhythm addresses the first group, and the internal pathway addresses the third. → Mastère en alternance, en anglais, à Lyon
The top origins of international students in French business schools are China (9,130), Morocco (8,403), India (4,709), Italy (3,735) and Cameroon (2,761), all for 2023-2024. The Chinese contingent grew again (+10% in one year) for the first time since 2019-2020. → Bachelor commerce en anglais à Lyon · Bachelor in Business
Source for all figures in this section: Campus France, Chiffres clés 2025 (May 2025), data MESR/SIES 2024, academic year 2023-2024. Retrieved 9 September 2026. Query list: competitor paid-search analysis, September 2026 (30 generic queries, Google Ads keyword data for 12 schools active in Lyon or in international business education).
All indicators are published figures from official or institutional sources (OECD, Campus France, Migration Policy Institute), reproduced as published with a direct link. Indicators without a verifiable public source are excluded by construction.