Sydney is the most popular city in the world for international university students, beating more than 83 cities including London, Paris and New York to the coveted spot, a new global ranking reveals.

Global consultancy firm A.T. Kearney put Sydney ahead of dozens of cities after studying the size of international student populations for its 2014 Global Cities Index.

Figures from the federal government show that Sydney is home to an estimated 50,000 international students studying at the city's universities, with another 50,000 studying vocational and English courses.

More than 300,000 international students are studying across the country, the most recent figures from Universities Australia show, with the top five countries being China, India, South Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Enrolment data also reveals an increase in the number of students from Pakistan, Colombia and the Philippines and the most recent data published by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship showed that, in the last six months of 2012, there was a 27 per cent growth in higher education student visas granted to offshore applicants.