International students at HE institutions in Germany grew once again in 2015, increasing by 7% on top of 2014 figures. The PIE News has published an article highlighting figures provided by the 2016 ‘Facts and Figures on the International Nature of Studies and Research in Germany’ report. The report suggests that international students now make up 12% (or 321,569) of the country’s overall student population.
Source: Wissenschaft Weltoffen Kompakt, 2016
One source of this growth in international student enrolments is China, where the number of Chinese students in Germany surpassed 30,000 for the first time in 2015. Further growth also came from India, which overtook Russia as the second highest international student source country for Germany with a total of 11,655 students. Students from Asia now make up 37.6% of the total number of international students in German HE institutions, with South, Southeast and East Asia accounting for 28.4% alone.
Source: Wissenschaft Weltoffen Kompakt, 2016
This growth, coupled with the rising number of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes taught in English (over 1,000 programmes), positions Germany as a serious player on the global HE stage where competition to attract international students is toughening up.