China Emerges as the Top Destination For Pakistanis Studying Abroad

[Riaz Haq]

China has emerged at the top destination for Pakistani students studying abroad with 19,000 of them in China this year. This figure is more than 3 times the 6,141 Pakistani students currently enrolled in the US universities, according to data available from reliable sources.

Foreign Students in China: 

China is hosting over 440,000 foreign students in 2017, up 35% from 2012. No other Asian country has as many foreign students as China does today, according to Shanghiist.

The countries sending the largest number of students to China are South Korea, the United States and Thailand, followed by Pakistan, India, Russia, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Japan and Vietnam, according to data from China's Ministry of Education as reported by Chinese media.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC): 

The number of students from countries involved in China's One Belt, One Road  (OBOR) initiative, also known as The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road that includes China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has significantly increased. In 2016, students from the 64 countries in the initiative saw 200,000 students coming to China to study, representing an increase of 13.6% compared with one year before.

British Education in Joint Degree Programs Outside UK. Source: UKCISA

British Education in Pakistan: 

Even after the dramatic increase of Pakistani students going to China, the United Kingdom still remains the top source of international education for Pakistanis.  46,640 students, the largest number of Pakistani students receiving international education anywhere, are doing so at Pakistani universities in joint degree programs established with British universities, according to UK Council for International Student Affairs.

The number of students enrolled in British-Pakistani joint degree programs in Pakistan (46,640) makes it the fourth largest effort behind Malaysia (78,850), China (64,560) and Singapore (49,970).

China's Soft Power: 

China is now taking a page from the successful playbook of the Americans and the British to project their soft power through education. The Chinese government is making significant investment in scholarships and facilities to foster a greater understanding of the Chinese culture and language globally, and expand Beijing's soft power.

Summary: 

China has emerged at the top destination for Pakistani students studying abroad with 19,000 of them in China this year. This figure is more than 3 times the 6,141 Pakistani students currently enrolled in the US universities. Chinese government is investing in scholarships and facilities to entice foreign students, particularly those from countries such as Pakistan that are part of China's Silk Road initiative, in an effort to project its soft power.

Related Links:

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pakistan's Expected Demographic Dividend

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

Pakistan College and University Enrollment Rates

Educational Attainment Dataset By Robert Barro and Jong-Wha Lee

Pakistani Students Win First Place in Stanford Design Contest

Developing Pakistan's Intellectual Capital

Intellectual Wealth of Nations

Pakistan's Story After 64 Years of Independence

Pakistan Ahead of BRICs in Highly Cited Papers

Scholarships at Foreign Universities

Institute of International Education--Open Doors

UK's Higher Education Statistics Agency Report

Austrade on Education in Pakistan

[Riaz Haq]

Improving language supports could increase stay rate of international students in Germany


https://monitor.icef.com/2022/03/improving-language-supports-could-...


More than a quarter of surveyed students said that language difficulties had been challenging for them, and nearly as many said they had experienced challenges in meeting new friends and in finding accommodation. Feeling socially isolated may be especially pronounced among Indonesian, South Korean, Taiwanese, Pakistani, and Chinese students: more than 50% in those segments said they had felt, at least at one point, the desire to go back to their home country. Among Chinese students, this proportion rose to 70%.

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Short on time? Here are the highlights:

A survey of nearly 2,000 international students studying in Germany during the pandemic shows that many would like to remain in the country after graduating to work/immigrate or to progress to another level of study
The most challenging obstacles for these students are language barriers and difficulties in making new friends, suggesting a need for stronger international student supports at German universities

A 2021 Expatrio/DEGIS survey of nearly 2,000 international students who chose to study in Germany during the pandemic found that (1) most were drawn by the country’s no-tuition-fees policy and (2) more than half intended to stay in the country after their studies. That said, language barriers are a concern for many international students in Germany, including those who would like to stay on after graduation.

About the survey
The survey was conducted by Expatrio, a platform designed to support international students in Germany, while DEGIS is an organisation that helps international students to network and adjust to German culture.

Students from roughly 93 countries participated in the survey; most of them were studying for master’s degrees (67%). The survey was a follow-up to one conducted in 2020 and was larger than its predecessor, with 31% more student respondents. Responses were collected from August to October 2021 and reported in “Navigating the Pandemic: International Students’ Relocation to and Life in Germany 2021.”

Why do students choose Germany?
Surveyed students chose Germany primarily because of the country’s no-tuition-fees policy for all students in higher education (45%); employment opportunities were the next-most influential factor (18%), especially for Mexican and Brazilian respondents.

[Riaz Haq]

There were 8,772 international students from Pakistan at U.S. higher education institutions in 2021/22. A 17.4% change from the previous year.

https://opendoorsdata.org/data/international-students/all-places-of...

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There has been a 17 percent year-on-year increase (to 8,772) in the number of Pakistani students in the United States during 2021-22, says an official US report.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1723571

The report, released in Washington this week, notes that the United States remains the top destination for international students and the number of students from Bangladesh, Nepal, India, and Pakistan is on the rise!

In South Asia, Bangladesh topped the list with a 23 per cent year-over-year increase, followed by India with a 19pc increase.

Pakistan also has the largest US-funded Fulbright programme in the world, which sends 150 Pakistanis each year to US universities — 100 to earn their master’s degrees and 50 to earn PhDs.

The United States also sponsors 800 Pakistanis each year to travel on exchange programs — from high school students who spend a year at a US high school to professionals who connect with their American counterparts. As a result, Pakistan is home to the largest network of alumni of US government-funded exchange programmes in the world.

The “Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange,” published this week, identified China and India as the largest sources of international students to the United States. During the current academic year, China sent 290,086 students, which is 30.6pc of the total number of international students in the US. Yet, it is a decline of 8.6pc, compared to the previous academic year. India, which sent 199,183 students this year — 21 percent of the total — registered a 19pc year-over-year increase. Toge­ther, China and India represent the majority (almost 52pc) of all international students in the United States.

This year’s report shows a 91pc decline in the total number of US students who studied abroad during the 2020-2021 academic year. This is apparently because since the Covid-19 pandemic, 62pc of US colleges offer virtual internships.

While the pandemic also caused a 45.6pc decline in new international students in 2020, the latest data, covering the 2021-2022 academic year, indicates that the total number of international students in the US — 948,519 — has started to recover.

This can be seen in a 3.8pc increase over the 914,095 international students in the US in 2020. Still, the number is well below the nearly 1.1 million international students reported in 2018.

Much of the recent growth is driven by an increase in the number of new international students — 261,961 – which is up 80pc over the 145,528 from 2020 but still 2.14pc below the 267,712 from 2019. Over the past decade, US colleges enrolled more students from China than from any other country. The onset of the global pandemic effectively halted travel between China and the US and political tensions further exacerbated the situation. Now, many Chinese parents feel their children are safe in the US.

The increase in Indian students is also attributed to the Biden administration’s policy of prioritising the student-visa processing in India. This includes adding more staff at US missions in India and streamlining the process, Chinese visa approvals are trending lower than in past years.

[Riaz Haq]

Nearly 21,000 students from Pakistan as international students return to Australia but not yet at pre-pandemic levels


https://monitor.icef.com/2023/04/international-students-are-returni...


Short on time? Here are the highlights:

Australia’s international student numbers and overall enrolments were up in 2022, but they have not yet reached their levels before the pandemic in 2019
The Chinese market is not rebounding, and Indian students now account for more commencements (first-time enrolments) than Chinese students do
Driving the Australian international education sector’s recovery are new students from Thailand, Nepal, Colombia, Pakistan, and other emerging markets

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Australia’s international education sector is recovering from pandemic losses, but it has not rebounded to pre-pandemic performance yet according to new data from Austrade.

Australian institutions enrolled 619,370 foreign students in 2022. This is up 8% over 2021 but is down 18% since 2019.

Commencements (first-time enrolments in Australian programmes) grew by 39% y-o-y but were 23% lower than in 2019. Fewer new Chinese students depressed commencement volumes: there were 39% fewer Chinese students in 2022 than in 2019. In 2022, India displaced China as the largest source of commencements.

Total course enrolments (as distinct from total international students) nudged upwards by 4% to 746,390 in 2022, but this is 22% lower than in 2019. (Australia provides data on both international students and international enrolments – the second is always a higher number as an international student may enrol in more than one course while on their study visa.)

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Offsetting a decline in Chinese enrolments (177,470 in 2022, down 11% y-o-y) and zero momentum from India (128,980, up .03%) were notable enrolment increases from:

Thailand, the 6th largest market, up 61% to 25,792
Nepal, the 3rd largest market, up 21% to 71,805
Colombia, the 4th largest market, up 21% to 28,435
Pakistan, the 9th largest market, up 21% to 20,935

Combined, China and India still contributed half of all international enrolments in Australian institutions in 2022.

Foreshadowing the shape of the sector’s recovery in the years to come are commencement trends. Chinese commencements fell by 8% in 2022 compared with 2021, while Indian commencements increased by 45%, boosting India to the top market for Australia in terms of first-time enrolments in courses. Otherwise, the biggest stories in terms of commencements come from:

Thailand, up 145%
Nepal, up 94%
Pakistan, up 71%
Philippines, up 61%
In 2022, India and China each accounted for roughly 18% of commencements, with Nepal next at 11%.

[Riaz Haq]

Outbound mobility trends for five key sending markets (of international students) in Asia (in 2022)

Bangladesh (70,000) , Nepal (125,500), Pakistan (103,190), Philippines (62,000) and Thailand (40,720).

https://monitor.icef.com/2023/03/outbound-mobility-trends-for-five-...


Pakistan
The most recent UNESCO data (2020) counts 64,065 Pakistani students abroad in higher education. Outbound mobility from Pakistan was over 103,190 in 2022 when we consult more recent statistics published by government sources in various destinations. There have been large increases in Pakistani students recorded recently in the UK, Australia, US, Canada, and Germany.

The top three destinations for Pakistani students currently are UAE, UK, and Australia.

UAE: 24,865 in 2020 according to UNESCO
UK: 23,075 in 2021/22 (+62% y-o-y)
Australia: 15,875 in 2022 (+15%)
US: 8,770 in 2021/22 (+17%)
Germany: 7,115 in 2021/22 (+22%)
Canada: 6,405 in 2022 (+38%)
Kyrgyzstan: 6,000 in 2020 according to UNESCO
Malaysia: 4,700 in 2021
Turkey: 2,385 in 2020 according to UNESCO
Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sweden, Qatar: At least 4,000 in 2020 according to UNESCO

[Riaz Haq]

From Google Gen Ai:

Studying in Europe offers Pakistani students access to world-renowned institutions, innovative teaching techniques, and multicultural surroundings. In 2019, nearly 10,000 Pakistani students registered in European colleges.
The number of Pakistani students studying abroad has grown steadily over the past decade. In 2020, 64,604 Pakistani students were studying abroad.
Some of the top countries for Pakistani students to study abroad include:
The United States, The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Malaysia, France, Singapore, Sweden.
Some of the top destinations for Pakistani students in Europe include:
Germany
Austria
Sweden
The United Kingdom
Pakistani students are required to pass language tests to study abroad. However, some universities offer scholarships that allow students to study in Europe without IELTS.

[Riaz Haq]

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT MOBILITY

https://wenr.wes.org/2020/02/education-in-pakistan


Pakistan is a significant exporter of international students globally. According to UNESCO statistics, the number of outbound Pakistani degree-seeking students grew by 70 percent over the last decade, from 31,156 in 2007 to 53,023 in 2017. While that number is dwarfed by the more than 330,000 degree-seeking students from neighboring India, consider that Pakistan’s outbound mobility ratio—the percentage of international students among all students—is almost three time as high (2.7 percent in 2017) as that of India (1 percent). This means that it’s far more common for Pakistani students to study abroad and broaden their academic horizons in another country than it is for Indian students.

Further increases in student outflows from Pakistan are expected in the years ahead. The British Council, for instance, expects Pakistan to be among the top 10 growth countries worldwide until 2027, despite an overall cooling of international student mobility on a global scale. For one, the precarious economic conditions and employment prospects in Pakistan are a major push factor for both international students and the hundreds of thousands of labor migrants leaving Pakistan each year. Studying abroad can open immigration pathways in countries like Australia or Canada, while a foreign degree gives those that return a competitive edge on the Pakistani labor market.

Another important driver is the lack of university seats and high-quality study programs in Pakistan, particularly at the graduate level. While Pakistan has created a tremendous amount of new doctoral programs over the past decade, growing numbers of Pakistani scholars are heading abroad to access higher quality education, primarily in fields like engineering and the sciences. To modernize research in Pakistan and raise the qualifications profile of university faculty, the government supports this development with scholarship programs of considerable scale, considering Pakistan’s fiscal constraints. While most Pakistani students are said to be self-funded, overseas scholarship programs have helped thousands of graduate students to pursue studies in the United States, the United Kingdom, Cuba, Germany, France, and various other countries in recent years. Scholarship recipients are often required to return home after graduation.

The traditional English-speaking international study destinations, Australia and the U.S., are currently the top choices among Pakistani degree-seeking students, as per UNESCO statistics. Datapublished by the Australian government show that the number of Pakistani students grew almost threefold over the past decade, from 3,512 in 2008 to 10,000 in 2019, making Pakistan one of the top 10 sending countries of tertiary students in Australia.

In the U.S., likewise, Pakistani enrollments have generally been on an upward trajectory over the past few years. According to the Open Doors data of the Institute of International Education, Pakistan sent 7,957 students to the U.S. in 2018/19, an increase of 5.6 percent over the previous year, making it the 22nd most important sending country. Around 44 percent of these students are enrolled in undergraduate programs, 35 percent in graduate programs, and 4 percent in non-degree programs, while 17 percent pursue Optional Practical Training.

Other popular destination countries include the U.K. and the Muslim-majority countries Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, the latter also being a magnet for labor migrants from Pakistan. It should be noted, however, that China has emerged as a significant destination as well. China may, in fact, now host the largest number of Pakistani international students worldwide. While UNESCO does not report data for China, and Chinese government figures are difficult to compare,1 Pakistan is currently the third-largest sending country to China with 28,000 students, per Chinese statistics.

[Riaz Haq]

Market snapshot: International student recruitment in Pakistan - ICEF Monitor - Market intelligence for international student recruitment


https://monitor.icef.com/2024/10/market-snapshot-international-stud...

Recent data on which destinations are hosting the most Pakistani students include:

UK: 34,690 in 2022/23 (+50% y-o-y)
China: 28,000 before the pandemic
UAE: 24,865 in 2020 according to UNESCO
Australia: 23,380 in 2023 (+49%)
US: 10,165 in 2022/23 (+16%)
Germany: 8,210 in 2022/23 (+22%)
Kyrgyzstan: 6,000 in 2020 according to UNESCO
Malaysia: 5,000 in 2023
Canada: 4,750 in 2023 (+101%)
Turkey: 2,385 in 2020 according to UNESCO
Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Sweden, Qatar: At least 4,000 in 2020 according to UNESCO

(Total Pakistanis studying abroad is about 150,000)

[Riaz Haq]

What the UK International Student 2022/23 data can tell us

https://monitor.icef.com/2024/08/uk-reports-record-foreign-enrolmen...

India (173,190 students) surpassed China (154,260) as the main sender of students to UK universities. China had been the #1 market since 2018/19. Indian students represented a quarter (26%) of all international students in the UK in 2022/23.

India (+37%), Nigeria (+39%), and Pakistan (50%) were by far the fastest-growing student source countries, year-over-year.

What the 2022/23 data can tell us
India (173,190 students) surpassed China (154,260) as the main sender of students to UK universities. China had been the #1 market since 2018/19. Indian students represented a quarter (26%) of all international students in the UK in 2022/23.

India (+37%), Nigeria (+39%), and Pakistan (50%) were by far the fastest-growing student source countries, year-over-year.


The top 10 non-EU sending markets were:

India (173,190, +37%)
China (154,260, +2%)
Nigeria (72,355, +39%)
Pakistan (34,690, +50%)
US (22,540, -2%)
Hong Kong (17,095, +3%)
Bangladesh (14,945, +18%)
Malaysia (13,005, +7%)
Saudi Arabia (9,045, +3%)
UAE (8,350, +3%)