International students contributed $108.5 million to Hawaii’s economy in tuition and living expenses in the 2012-13 academic year, an institute reported Monday.

The number of international students attending college here and the amount of money they spent is up slightly from last year, according to the Open Doors study from the Institute of International Education.

This year the report estimates there are 4,450 international students studying in the islands. In 2012 there were 4,446 students, who spent $107.1 million.

The institute said the number of international students nationwide — led by a 21 percent increase in students from China — reached record levels. Nearly 819,650 foreign students contributed an estimated $24 billion to the U.S. economy, the report said.

The influx of Chinese students seems to be mostly bypassing Hawaii’s colleges. The numbers of Chinese students coming here remained relatively stable, making up about 7.6 percent of foreign students.

The largest numbers of international students studying in Hawaii are from Japan at 20.9 percent, followed by South Korea, 13.7 percent; China, 7.6 percent; Norway, 4.7 percent; and Taiwan, 4.1 percent.

China sends the most students to the U.S., followed by India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Canada.

The University of Hawaii at Manoa had the largest number of foreign students with 1,303, followed by Brigham Young University Hawaii, 1,046; Hawaii Pacific University, 937; Kapiolani Community College, 702; and UH-Hilo, 182.

BYUH attracted the most foreign students among baccalaureate institutions. KCC, HPU and UH-Hilo were also cited as among the top 40 institutions with international student enrollment among their peer groups.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.