It comes against a backdrop of uncertainty caused by the Covid pandemic and changes to tuition fees for EU students following Brexit, both of which have hit international student numbers at British universities.
In 2018-2019, when the new analysis is based off, there were 496,000 international students in the UK – which worked out at around 20 per cent of all higher education students.
But the UK’s exit from the EU has “severely affected” EU student recruitment, according to the report by the the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) think-tank and Universities UK International (UUKi).
The latest Ucas figures show the number of EU students accepted onto undergraduate degree courses has dropped by more than 50 per cent this year.
The Hepi and UUKi report said: “The UK cannot take its attractiveness as a study destination for international students for granted”.
One year’s intake brings in a net economic benefit of £25.9bn to the UK economy, which is spread across the UK, according to the analysis.
The report highlighted the economic benefits for different areas for the 2018-2019 intake, including 290m for Sheffield Central, £261m for Nottingham South and £243m for Holborn and St Pancras in London.