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T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock Fund
T. Rowe Price
Emerging Markets Stock Fund

Investor Class

I Class

SUMMARY
Investment Objective
The fund seeks long-term growth of capital through investments primarily in the common stocks of companies located (or with primary operations) in emerging markets.
Fees and Expenses
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund

Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Shareholder Fees - T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock Fund - USD ($)
Investor Class
I Class
Redemption fee (as a percentage of amount redeemed on shares held for 90 days or less) 2.00% 2.00%
Maximum account fee $ 20 [1]
[1] Subject to certain exceptions, accounts with a balance of less than $10,000 are charged an annual $20 fee.
Annual fund operating expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a
percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses - T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock Fund
Investor Class
I Class
Management fees 1.04% 1.04%
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees none
Other expenses 0.22% 0.06% [1]
Total annual fund operating expenses 1.26% 1.10%
Fee waiver/expense reimbursement (0.01%) [1]
Total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver/expense reimbursement 1.26% 1.09% [1]
[1] T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. has agreed (through February 28, 2018) to pay the operating expenses of the fund's I Class excluding management fees; interest; expenses related to borrowings; taxes and brokerage; nonrecurring, extraordinary expenses; and acquired fund fees and expenses ("I Class Operating Expenses"), to the extent the I Class Operating Expenses exceed 0.05% of the class' average daily net assets. Any expenses paid under this agreement are subject to reimbursement to T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. by the fund whenever the fund's I Class Operating Expenses are below 0.05%. However, no reimbursement will be made more than three years after the payment of the I Class Operating Expenses or if such reimbursement would cause the fund's I Class Operating Expenses to exceed 0.05%. The agreement may be terminated at any time beyond February 28, 2018, with approval by the fund's Board of Directors.
Example
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods, that your investment has a 5% return each year, and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. The example also assumes that an expense limitation currently in place is not renewed, therefore the figures have been adjusted to reflect fee waivers or expense reimbursements only in the periods for which the expense limitation arrangement is expected to continue. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example - T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock Fund - USD ($)
1 year
3 years
5 years
10 years
Investor Class 128 400 692 1,523
I Class 111 349 605 1,339
Portfolio Turnover
The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when the fund’s shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 24.4% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks, and Performance

Principal Investment Strategies
The fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets (including any borrowings for investment purposes) in emerging market companies. For purposes of determining whether the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in emerging market companies, the fund relies on MSCI Inc. to determine which countries are considered emerging markets and relies on the country assigned to a security by MSCI Inc. or another unaffiliated data provider. The fund considers frontier markets to be a subset of emerging markets and any investments in frontier markets will be counted toward the fund’s 80% investment policy. The fund expects to primarily invest in common stocks of companies located (or with primary operations) in emerging markets in Latin America, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The countries in which the fund normally invests include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Asia: China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
  • Latin America: Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
  • Europe: Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, and Ukraine.
  • Africa and the Middle East: Bahrain, Botswana, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe.
The fund may purchase the stocks of companies of any size. While the adviser invests with an awareness of the global economic backdrop and the adviser’s outlook for certain industries, sectors, and individual countries, the adviser’s decision-making process focuses on bottom-up stock selection. Country allocation is driven largely by stock selection, though the adviser may limit investments in markets or industries that appear to have poor overall prospects.

Security selection reflects a growth style. The adviser relies on a global team of investment analysts dedicated to in-depth fundamental research in an effort to identify companies capable of achieving and sustaining above-average, long-term earnings growth. The adviser seeks to purchase stocks of companies at reasonable prices in relation to present or anticipated earnings, cash flow, or book value.

In selecting investments, the adviser generally favors companies with one or more of the following characteristics:
  • leading or improving market position;
  • attractive business niche;
  • attractive or improving franchise or industry position;
  • seasoned management;
  • stable or improving earnings and/or cash flow; and
  • sound or improving balance sheet.
The fund may sell securities for a variety of reasons, such as to secure gains, limit losses, or redeploy assets into more promising opportunities.
Principal Risks
As with any mutual fund, there is no guarantee that the fund will achieve its objective. The fund’s share price fluctuates, which means you could lose money by investing in the fund. The principal risks of investing in this fund are summarized as follows:

Active management risk The fund is subject to the risk that the investment adviser’s judgments about the attractiveness, value, or potential appreciation of the fund’s investments may prove to be incorrect. If the investments selected and strategies employed by the fund fail to produce the intended results, the fund could underperform in comparison to other funds with similar objectives and investment strategies.

Risks of stock investing Stocks generally fluctuate in value more than bonds and may decline significantly over short time periods. There is a chance that stock prices overall will decline because stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising and falling prices. The value of a stock in which the fund invests may decline due to general weakness in the stock market or because of factors that affect a particular company or industry.

International investing risk Investing in the securities of non-U.S. issuers involves special risks not typically associated with investing in U.S. issuers. International securities tend to be more volatile and less liquid than investments in U.S. securities and may lose value because of adverse local, political, social, or economic developments overseas, or due to changes in the exchange rates between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. In addition, international investments are subject to settlement practices and regulatory and financial reporting standards that differ from those of the U.S.

Emerging markets risk The risks of international investing are heightened for securities of issuers in emerging market countries. Emerging market countries tend to have economic structures that are less diverse and mature, and political systems that are less stable, than those of developed countries. In addition to all of the risks of investing in international developed markets, emerging markets are more susceptible to governmental interference, local taxes being imposed on international investments, restrictions on gaining access to sales proceeds, and less liquid and less efficient trading markets.

Frontier markets, considered by the fund to be a subset of emerging markets, generally have smaller economies and less mature capital markets than emerging markets. As a result, the risks of investing in emerging market countries are magnified in frontier market countries. Frontier markets are more susceptible to abrupt changes in currency values, less mature markets and settlement practices, and lower trading volumes that could lead to greater price volatility and illiquidity.

Investment style risk Different investment styles tend to shift in and out of favor depending on market conditions and investor sentiment. The fund’s growth approach to investing could cause it to underperform other stock funds that employ a different investment style. Growth stocks tend to be more volatile than certain other types of stocks, and their prices may fluctuate more dramatically than the overall stock market. A stock with growth characteristics can have sharp price declines due to decreases in current or expected earnings and may lack dividends that can help cushion its share price in a declining market.

Market capitalization risk Because the fund may invest in companies of any size, its share price could be more volatile than a fund that invests only in large companies. Small and medium-sized companies often have less experienced management, narrower product lines, more limited financial resources, and less publicly available information than larger companies. Larger companies may not be able to attain the high growth rates of successful smaller companies, especially during strong economic periods, and they may be less capable of responding quickly to competitive challenges and industry changes.
Performance
The following performance information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The fund’s performance information represents only past performance (before and after taxes) and is not necessarily an indication of future results.

The following bar chart illustrates how much returns can differ from year to year by showing calendar year returns and the best and worst calendar quarter returns during those years for the fund’s Investor Class. Returns for other share classes vary since they have different expenses.
Emerging Markets Stock Fund
Calendar Year Returns
Bar Chart
  Quarter Ended    Total Return  Quarter Ended     Total Return
Best Quarter             6/30/09             42.05%      Worst Quarter            12/31/08            -34.23%
The following table shows the average annual total returns for each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year, and also compares the returns with the returns of a relevant broad-based market index, as well as with the returns of one or more comparative indexes that have investment characteristics similar to those of the fund.

In addition, the table shows hypothetical after-tax returns to demonstrate how taxes paid by a shareholder may influence returns. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as a 401(k) account or individual retirement account. After-tax returns are shown only for the Investor Class and will differ for other share classes.
Average Annual Total Returns

Periods ended
Average Annual Total Returns - T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock Fund
1 Year
5 Years
10 Years
Since inception
Inception date
Investor Class 11.94% 2.82% 1.46% Mar. 31, 1995
Investor Class | Returns after taxes on distributions 11.96% 2.84% 1.32% Mar. 31, 1995
Investor Class | Returns after taxes on distributions and sale of fund shares 7.12% 2.36% 1.37% Mar. 31, 1995
I Class 12.11% 8.19% Aug. 28, 2015
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 11.60% 1.64% 2.17% 6.55% [1] Aug. 28, 2015
Lipper Emerging Markets Funds Average 8.80% 1.57% 1.32% 4.72% [2] Aug. 31, 2015
[1] Return as of 8/28/15.
[2] Return as of 8/31/15.
Updated performance information is available through troweprice.com.