This article analyses the economic impact of inbound student mobility in Hungary. The research is based on an innovative approach not only showing the geoeconomic impact based on expenditures of the different groups of incoming students (Erasmus+, degree mobility of self-funded or scholarship holder students), but also links the data to specific sectors of the national and local economies. Thus, the paper reveals that international student mobility affects not only the internationalization of the higher education institutions or even the entire higher education sector, but also the wider macro environment, carrying geopolitical considerations. Based on the findings, a new aspect or "side effect" of the global and/or governmental "soft power" initiatives (e.g. Erasmus+, Belt and Road Initiative, Stipendium Hungaricum) can be identified in economic development. With the Hungarian case, the article intends to contribute to a better understanding of the changing geopolitics of higher education in the twenty-first century.