INTERNATIONAL students contribute £18.4m to the Ceredigion economy each year, a report has found.

The Economic Impact of International Students in Wales study also found that 355 jobs in Ceredigion are sustained by international students attending Aberystwyth University and that Ceredigion accounts for 4.5 per cent of all expenditure by international students in Wales through both Aberystwyth and the Trinity Saint David campus in Lampeter.

Prof John Grattan, pro vice-chancellor (international) at Aberystwyth University, said: “Aberystwyth University has a long and distinguished history of welcoming international students from all parts of the world.

“This report underlines their contribution and reflects the esteem in which the education provided by Welsh universities is held by people around the world.

“Every year we welcome students from more than 90 countries to Aberystwyth and their presence contributes to the rich cosmopolitan student experience here.”

The study shows that 22,000 international students from 140 countries worldwide attended Welsh universities during 2015/16 - nearly one in five of the total student population.

Conducted by Viewforth consulting on behalf of Universities Wales, the study reports that international students and their visitors generated £716m of Welsh output during this period.

This significant economic contribution was generated through both on-campus and off-campus expenditure, with tuition fees, accommodation costs, and money spent in local cafes, bars and shops all producing over £372m of Welsh Gross Value Added (GVA) and generating 6,850 full-time equivalent jobs.

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