Accessing the Global Student Flows Dataset
From the HolonIQ homepage, you can access Global Student Flows in two ways:
Click the Global Student Flows tile on the home screen, or
Select Global Student Flows from the left-hand navigation menu
The dataset opens on the Overview report by default.
Overview Report
The Overview report provides a high-level snapshot of global student mobility.
Key elements include:
Global flow showing the total number of international students studying abroad
Source territories (countries students come from)
Source cities
Destination territories (where students go to study)
This report is designed to help you quickly understand the scale and direction of international student movement.
Filtering by Geography and Time Period
Filters at the top of the report allow you to refine the data:
Source filter: global, region, sub-region, or specific territory
Destination filter: region, sub-region, or territory
Time period filter:
Default: last three years plus forward projections to 2030
Optional views: last five years, last ten years, or back to 2014
These filters apply across most Global Student Flows reports.
Index Reports
Index reports provide ranked views of student flows.
Examples include:
Source Location Index: ranks countries by number of outbound students
Student population shown to the left
CAGR (compound annual growth rate) shown to the right
By default, territories are ranked by total student numbers, but you can re-rank by CAGR to identify the fastest-growing source markets. This is particularly useful for identifying emerging markets, while keeping overall population size in context.
Index reports are also available for:
Source city
Destination location
Silhouette Reports
Silhouette reports present student flows as line graphs, showing:
Historical trends over recent years
Projected growth through to 2030
Colour-coded source locations for easy comparison
These reports are useful for visualising growth trajectories rather than absolute volume.
Widgets from this view can also be added directly to Dashboards.
Tree Maps
Tree maps provide a visual breakdown of student flows by size and region.
They:
Display source territories grouped by region
Use colour coding to distinguish regions
Make it easy to identify the largest source markets at a glance
Tree maps are also available for:
Source city
Destination location
Maps and Globe Views
Map-based reports allow you to explore student flows geographically.
Options include:
Flat world maps showing source or destination locations
Zoom functionality to reveal country-level detail
Globe view for a three-dimensional perspective of flows
These views are designed for quick visual exploration and presentations.
Benchmarking Reports
Benchmarking reports compare multiple destination countries side-by-side.
They show:
Destination countries as columns (e.g. United Kingdom, United States, Australia)
Source countries as rows (e.g. China, India, Vietnam)
Student volumes for each source–destination pairing
This makes it easy to benchmark how a destination performs relative to others for the same source markets.
Heatmap and Scatterplot Reports
Heatmaps allow you to:
View student numbers by source or destination across years
Switch values to totals, row percentages, or column percentages
Scatterplots allow you to:
Compare student numbers against CAGR
Assign source location, source city, or destination location to bubble size
Click on bubbles to view detailed breakdowns
These tools are useful for identifying patterns, outliers, and trade-offs between scale and growth.
Flows Explorer
The Flows Explorer is an interactive visual tool that displays student movements between countries as a network.
Key features include:
Countries arranged around a circular visual
Lines representing student flows between countries
Tooltips showing outbound and inbound student numbers
You can:
Filter by time period
Filter by territory, sub-region, or region
Group and colour flows by geography
Limit visibility to top percentiles for visual clarity
Analysing Specific Source–Destination Pairs in the Flows Explorer
Within the Flows Explorer analysis section, you can:
Select a specific source country
Select one or more destination countries
View the estimated number of students flowing between those locations
For example, you can isolate flows from China to Australia to understand that specific relationship in detail.