The number of students enrolled in English as a Foreign Language courses last year was just under 14,500, a drop of more than two-thirds from 83,610 registered in 2019. Data by the National Statistics Office shows that January emerged as the strongest month, with 3,480 students in language schools and consistent with the previous year.
July was the second-highest month in terms on numbers, reaching 3,041 students, but this figure also represents the biggest year-on-year decline in 2020. The previous year, July was the top month with 18,457 students, contributing to 22 percent of the entire student population in 2019.
More than six in every ten students were from EU states, with Germany emerging as the biggest market with 2,761 arrivals. France and Italy were the next biggest countries of origin with 1,760 and 1,615 students, respectively.
Just over 1,150 students came from Japan, the largest group from a non-EU country while Brazil, Colombia, and Russia were among the top 10 student citizenships.
