The number of South Korean students studying in higher education institutes outside the country has decreased for the third straight year, the Ministry of Education said Sunday.

As of 2014, a total of 219,543 college and post-graduate students were studying overseas, marking a 3.3 percent drop from 227,126 in 2013. United States, China and the United Kingdom were the three countries with the most Korean students.

Australia was among the countries that saw the most drastic decrease in Korean students in recent years, along with New Zealand, Japan, U.K. and the U.S. The figure for Australia nearly halved from 33,929 in 2011 to 17,256 in 2012, and the number dipped further to 14,139 in 2014.

(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)