More than twice as many Erasmus students and staff came to study in Ireland last year compared to the number of Irish students who went abroad.
Ireland welcomed 11,835 people in higher education on the Erasmus scheme last year. In the other direction, 5,314 Irish people went to study at universities elsewhere in Europe.
The Erasmus+ annual report, which has just been published by the European Commission, shows that the scheme had a budget of €4.5 billion in 2023, up by more than 12 percent on the previous year.
Ireland received more than €23 million in Erasmus grants for higher education. Schools, youth groups and vocational training received a further €14 million.
The EU scheme started in the 1980s allowing university students to study in other parts of the EU. Since then it has expanded to also give opportunities to teaching staff with a range of other educational programmes.
There are also more countries involved since the European Union has got much bigger. Some countries outside beyond. The UK left Erasmus with Brexit, but Irish nationals retain the right to study in Britain.
The European Commission estimates there have been more than one million ‘Erasmus babies’ born as a result of the EU mobility programme.
Spain and France were the most popular destinations for Irish people on Erasmus last year, each accepting more than 900 Irish staff and students. A few dozen headed to eastern Europe, 52 people used the scheme to go to Asia.
Of the students and staff who came to Ireland, more than 3,000 were from France and 2,000 from Germany. One person came from Lichtenstein.