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About 13,100 new students from abroad were enrolled in German universities and colleges in 2024, representing a ten per cent increase compared to the previous year.
According to Destatis, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the total number of foreign students in the country stands at 145,100 while the number of German students enrolling their first year of studies is 346,300, Studying-in-Germany.org reports.
The data reveal that the number of German students has decreased by 1.1 per cent compared to the previous academic year, unveiling a downward trend of interest for students to enroll in German educational institutions.
Foreign Students Increasingly Picking Germany as Study Destination
The proportion of new international students enrolling in German universities and colleges is on the rise, as the data show. In 2024, around 30 per cent of all first-time students in Germany were foreign students.
The year-on-year increase in the number of foreign students is about 23 per cent, comparing the 2022 to 2023 figures.
The demographic reasons also play a role in this matter as the number of foreign students starting their studies in 2023 rose by 33 per cent, compared to German students who saw a decrease of 13 per cent.
The total number of students starting their studies has fallen by 2.7 per cent during the last decade, from 2014 (504,900) to 2024.
Destatis Reveals There Were 3.6% More Students in MINT Studies in 2024
About 133,600 new students chose MINT subject groups of engineering, mathematics, and natural sciences in 2024, showing an increase of 3.6 per cent in these students.
In addition, the overall increase of new students was two per cent – even higher for students in the human medicine and health sciences, where three per cent or 28,900 students picked these subjects.
“In contrast, the subject groups of law, economics, and social sciences (+0.6 per cent to 193,800) and humanities (+0.4 per cent to 49,700) recorded below-average increases in the number of new students,†the press release by Destatis reveals.
2.8 Million Students Across German Universities in 2024/2025 Academic Year
The number of students in German universities and colleges remained stable in the 2024/2024 winter semester, showing that 2.8 million students were enrolled in these institutions.
Compared to the same time period in 2023, the number of students is only about 300 students higher. However, the trend of German students is not increasing, as it dropped by one per cent in the winter semester of 2024, reaching 2.376 million students compared to 2.398 million recorded in 2023.
On the other hand, the number of foreign students reached 492,600 during the winter semester, up from five per cent compared to 469,500 students recorded in the winter semester of 2023/2024.
