Market intelligence for international student recruitment from ICEF
1st Feb 2023

Malaysia exceeds target for new international student applications in 2022

Short on time? Here are the highlights:
  • Malaysia is working to reach a long-term goal to build its foreign enrolment base to 250,000 students by 2025
  • For the moment, it has met a more immediate target to receive 50,000 new international student applications in 2022

Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) is reporting substantial year-over-year growth in new international student applications for 2022.

EMGS is the organisation charged by the government with responsibility for promoting Malaysia as a study destination, and operates under the Ministry of Higher Education. While neither EMGS nor the Malaysian government releases official figures on foreign enrolment in the country, various media reports put the total at between 130,000 and 170,000 students for 2022. Malaysia has a long-term goal to build that enrolment base to 250,000 students by 2025.

Against a more immediate target of 50,000 international student applications for 2022, EMGS reports receiving 51,270 applications "to study in Malaysian public and private education institutions" through end of December. This amounts to a 27.5% increase over the application volume for 2021.

The top five sending markets for Malaysia are China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, and Nigeria. China remains, however, far and away the country's leading source market, and we see this reflected in application trends as well.

Chinese students accounted for 47% of all new applications filed in Malaysia in 2021, and 43% of all applications in 2022. The 21,943 applications lodged by Chinese students in 2022 represents a 15% increase from the year prior. Other top senders, however, grew even faster, including Bangladesh, Nigeria, and India, and this explains why the Chinese applicants account for a smaller proportion of total applications received in 2022, even as their total volume continued to grow.

For additional background, please see:

Most Recent

  • Global student satisfaction survey highlights growing attention to career services Read More
  • OECD tracks global student flows to developed market-based economies Read More
  • UK ELT reports declining enrolments for first half of 2025 Read More

Most Popular

  • Which countries will contribute the most to global student mobility in 2030? Read More
  • Research shows link between study abroad and poverty alleviation  Read More
  • Beyond the Big Four: How demand for study abroad is shifting to destinations in Asia and Europe Read More

Because you found this article interesting

Global student satisfaction survey highlights growing attention to career services The 2025 Global Student Satisfaction Awards were announced this week, and they provide some important indicators of student...
Read more
OECD tracks global student flows to developed market-based economies The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) is an inter-governmental organisation made up of 38 member countries....
Read more
UK ELT reports declining enrolments for first half of 2025 Extending the global pattern reported for 2024 of declining English language learning enrolments, English UK’s quarterly reporting for...
Read more
Global ELT volumes dipped in 2024 Globally, the ELT sector gave back some hard-won, post-pandemic gains in 2024. An annual study of eight top...
Read more
New analysis forecasts marginal growth for foreign enrolment in Australia through 2030 In the five years leading up to the pandemic, Australia’s foreign enrolment grew at an average of 10%...
Read more
China opens up to global STEM talent with new visa class The contrast offered by the global news headlines over the past couple of weeks could not have been...
Read more
US proposes new rules for student visas including term limits and other restrictions On 28 August 2025, the US Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule: Establishing a Fixed Time...
Read more
US Office of Management and Budget grants budget reprieve to key exchange programmes In a highly unusual intervention in an area of Congressional authority, the US Office of Management and Budget...
Read more
What are you looking for?
Quick Links