Foreign Students in Japan Hit New Record in 2024

Young People Choosing Japan

A study conducted by the Japan Student Services Organization, an independent administrative agency, found that there were 336,708 foreign students in Japan as of May 1, 2024, up 21% from the previous year. This was higher than in 2019, before the pandemic, and set a new record. The weak yen is thought to have encouraged more young people to choose to study in Japan.

The number of foreign students in Japan rose steadily from 2013, reaching 312,000 in 2019. After falling during the pandemic, it started rising again in 2023. The 2024 figure includes a record 107,241 students enrolled in Japanese language schools. There were 229,467 at higher education institutions, of which 91,192 were undergraduates at universities or studying at junior colleges or colleges of technology (kōtō senmon gakkō), while 76,402 were at vocational colleges (senmon gakkō) and 58,215 were postgraduate students.

An overwhelming 92.5% of students (311,566) were from Asia, ahead of 4.0% from Europe (13,312), and 1.3% from North America (4,516).

The top country or region of origin was China, accounting for 36.7% of the total, with 123,485 students. It was followed by Nepal with 19.2% (64,816), Vietnam with 12.0% (40,323), Myanmar with 4.9% (16,596), South Korea with 4.3% (14,579), Sri Lanka with 3.6% (12,269), and Taiwan with 2.3% (7,655). The number of students from Nepal rose by more than 26,000 year on year.

Overall, 55.3% of students were male and 44.6% female. Waseda University had the highest number of foreign students at 5,562, followed by the University of Tokyo with 4,793, Ritsumeikan University with 3,258, Kyoto University with 2,791, and Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University with 2,776.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)