evidence: International students add US$40 billion to economy The one million international students studying in the United States contributed US$40.1 billion to the American economy during the 2022-23 academic year, says a report published online on 13 November by NAFSA: Association of International Educators. While the figure is still below the US$40.4 billion record recorded in 2018-19 (when there were almost 1.1 million international students in the country) – the last year before the COVID-19 pandemic – it is US$6.3 billion (or 19%) higher than in 2021-22.