Summer 2024 Update

These countries host 93% of all Vietnamese studying abroad with 64% in Asia based on an estimated total of 275,000. Australia is currently the leading English-speaking destination, a place it frequently trades with the US.

I occasionally see reports with outdated statistics in the Vietnamese and English language media. For example, a recent Acumen report was widely inaccurate stating that ” Vietnam had by far the largest number of outbound students, 132,000″ among Southeast Asian countries and getting it wrong across the board, e.g., 14,100 Vietnamese students in Australia and 9,000 in Canada. Why? It made the mistake of relying on UNESCO for the data. In its 6 March 2024 report, ICEF makes the mistake of relying on Acumen’s research and UNESCO statistics, noting that there are 137,000 outbound Vietnamese students “according to the last UNESCO count.”

Whenever possible, I try to find primary source information from the host country’s government. The second best option is a secondary source that quotes a government official from that country, e.g., an interview with Dr. Kambiz Ghawami, president of the World University Service of Germany. Some governments are better than others in providing up-to-date and comprehensive information.

S. Korea: 80,343 (2023) Vietnam ranked 1st among sending countries. Most of these students are enrolled in language and vocational programs, making them qualitatively different from their peers studying in other countries.

Japan: 36,339 (2023) Vietnam ranked 3rd. As with S. Korea, most students are enrolled in language and vocational programs.

Australia: 33,524 (4-24) Vietnam ranked 5th.

USA: 26,387 (5-24) Vietnam ranked 6th.

Taiwan: 23,728 (2023) Vietnam ranked 1st. About 16,000 are enrolled in degree programs and more than 7,000 in Chinese language or exchange programs.

Canada: 21,000 (12-23)

China: 14,000 (2023) 

Singapore: 9,000 (2023) I’ve seen this figure in previous years. I contacted the Singapore Ministry of Education but didn’t receive a response. I suspect the current number is substantially lower.

Germany: 7,400 (2023) 

France: 5,254 (2022/23) “Mobility sheet” in French.

TOTAL: 256,975

Top 16 countries include Russia (3,000 in 2022/23), the UK (2,660 (2021/22 – HE only – figure does not include the number of boarding and day school students, probably in the low hundreds), Finland (2,500 in 2023/24), New Zealand (1,000 in 2023), Malaysia (1,000 in 2023), and Hungary (~1,000). Other countries with healthy numbers of Vietnamese students, mostly in the hundreds, include Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, the Philippines (English programs), and Spain.

Based on these numbers, it’s clear that the post-pandemic recovery is in full swing.

Updated on 18.7.24

Shalom (שלום), MAA