SEOUL-- The number of South Koreans studying in foreign nations in 2020 dropped 41 percent from two years earlier amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Friday.

There were 171,343 South Korean students abroad at the end of last year, a decrease from 293,157 recorded at the end of 2018, according to the foreign ministry's report on Korean expatriates.

The total number of South Koreans abroad fell 6.53 percent over the same period to 2.51 million, apparently affected by the virus situation.

Source: Yonhap News Agency