International students by region of origin in the 2021/22 winter semester

Asia and Pacific is the key region of origin for international students at German universities, continuing to represent 31% of all international students. Since the 2018/19 winter semester, the number of students originating from this region has seen above-average growth of 19%, with this figure dropping to just 7% year-on-year, however.

With a share of 19%, students from North Africa and Middle East are in second place. They show a growth of 27% within the last three years. Compared to the 2020/21 winter semester, their number rose by 6%, thereby relegating students from Western Europe to third place. Their number has increased by 9% in the last three years, and there was an 11% increase compared to the previous year to a share of 17%.

Furthermore, hardly any variation in enrolment figures can be observed for students from Central and South Eastern Europe, and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, who make up 11% and 8% of international students respectively. Lastly, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America account for shares of 6% and 5% respectively. Regarding the development in comparison to the previous year, Latin America experienced an increase of 8% in the winter semester 2021/22, while the number of students from Sub-Saharan Africa rose by only 5%. The smallest group, 2%, is made up of students from North America, whose number increased by 19% over the last year.