Surpassing China, Indians now largest group of foreign students in Germany
Surpassing China, Indians now largest group of foreign students in Germany
India has surpassed China as the largest source of international students in Germany, with nearly 43,000 Indian nationals currently enrolled in various colleges and universities in the country.
The number has doubled in the past five years, with 42,578 Indian students registered in Germany in 2023, according to data shared by officials of the German Embassy in New Delhi. Comparatively, the number of Chinese students was 39,137, followed by Syria (15,563), Austria (14,762) and Turkey (14,732).
German Embassy officials believe the number of Indian students in the country will go up to 45,000 in 2024, though official data will be compiled only towards the year-end.
Georg Enzweiler, Deputy Head of Mission at the German Embassy, attributed this surge to the “low cost of education” in Germany as compared to other countries in the West. “Higher education in Germany is mostly public-funded, so the only cost that students have to bear is the living expenses,” he said, adding that there has been a gradual change in the perception among Indian students who would avoid pursuing education in Germany, a ‘non-English speaking’ country.
While engineering programmes remain the most sought-after, there was also “a huge interest” among Indian students in other streams such as law, management, social sciences and mathematics, Enzweiler said.
With over 4.58 lakh students from abroad, Germany became the third most popular country for international students globally, and the first among non-English speaking countries, last year. For Indians, the country ranks eighth in the list of top 10 foreign study destinations, with the US, Canada, the UK and Australia retaining the top four spots.
Last year, India surpassed China to become the largest source of international graduate students in the US for the first time since 2009-10, with nearly 2.7 lakh Indian students in American institutions during the 2022-23 academic year, according to an Open Doors report. This was more than 25 per cent of the over one million foreign students in the US.
In Delhi, US Embassy officials have projected the number of Indian students in the US to reach a million by 2030. It said it had issued “a record high number” of student visas during June-August 2023.
Enzweiler said Germany was also issuing more visas, including Schengen and national visas, to Indians. Last year, he added, the German Embassy and its Consulates issued 1.72 lakh visas, an increase of 52,000 over the previous year. Visa appointment waiting times, which ran into a few weeks till last year, were also brought down to few days, he said.
Meanwhile, at a press briefing Tuesday, Romit Theophilus, India Director at German National Tourist Office, said Germany had also seen a significant increase in the number of Indian tourists in recent years.
The growth — of 32.6 per cent as compared to 2022 reflected the “rising interest among Indian travellers in exploring Germany’s culture, landscapes and culinary experiences,” he added.
The European Union recently announced that frequent travellers from India will now be able to apply for five-year multiple-entry Schengen visas, which puts them on par with “visa-free nationals”.
Meanwhile, German Embassy officials said that the country’s new Skilled Immigration Act will also offer Indian students a smoother pathway into the German labour market.
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