Nepali Students Spend Rs 48.26 Billion for Overseas Education in Current FY, Outpacing Income of Rs 27.15 Billion from Tourists

Nepali students’ expenditure for overseas education continued to outpace the country’s earnings from foreign tourists in the first four months of the current fiscal year, according to the latest report of Nepal Rastra Bank.

The Current Macroeconomic and Financial Situation Report published by the central bank on Monday revealed that Nepal earned Rs 27.15 billion from foreign visitors under the service account during the review period — a marginal increase of 0.9 percent compared to Rs 26.90 billion income in the corresponding period a year earlier.

The NRB classifies this heading as travel income, representing the money foreign tourists spend inside Nepal.

However, travel payments — the amount Nepalis spent abroad for purposes such as tourism, education, and medical care — increased 11.8 percent to Rs 75.74 billion in the same period. Over 63 percent of these payments or Rs 48.26 billion was spent solely on education abroad, up from Rs 37.77 billion the previous year.

This means Nepal spends more than one and a half times the total income from foreign tourists just on sending students overseas. Despite the adequate universities and colleges in the country, families continue to invest heavily in foreign degrees, draining valuable foreign currency reserves.

As a result, the services income remained at a deficit of Rs 32.91 billion during the review period, up from a deficit of Rs 22.37 billion in the same period of the previous year.

During the last fiscal year, Nepali Students spent Rs 138.48 billion for overseas education, while the country earned Rs 88.66 billion from foreign visitors during the entire year.