---
title: 5 emerging international student source countries to watch | Adventus.io
description: The trends are changing and they may not be what you expect.
---

[News & Blog | Adventus.io](https://blog.adventus.io)

# [5 emerging international student source countries to watch | Adventus.io](https://blog.adventus.io/five-emerging-source-countries-to-watch-in-international-student-recruitment)

 Written by [Pam](https://blog.adventus.io/author/pam) | Sep 3, 2020 12:24:44 AM

Institutions across the board want to diversify their international student cohort beyond China and India. Here are the top 5 emerging source markets to watch.

## Vietnam

- Vietnamese families are willing to pay high fees for education.
- They spend nearly half (47%) of their household expenditure on schooling alone.
- Together, this amounts to **USD 3-4 billion** spent studying abroad annually.
- Top destination markets for Vietnamese students include **Japan, USA, and Australia.**

 Source: VN Express, UNESCO

## Nepal

- The number of outbound students from Nepal jumped four-fold to 63,000 in the last 5 years.
- This was largely driven by a lack of domestic options.
- Top destination markets for Nepalese students include Australia, Japan, and USA.

> 1% of Nepal’s universities offer post graduate degrees.

## Sri Lanka

- In Sri Lanka, over 40% of the population is of schooling age (under 24 years old).
- Out of 220,000 students who sit university exams every year, there are only enough seats for 23,000 domestically.
- The supply-demand gap fuels the ever-rising **demand to study abroad**.
- Top destination markets for Sri Lankan students include **Australia, USA, and Malaysia**.

## Nigeria

- Nigeria’s education sector has been overburdened by strong population growth and a significant ‘youth bulge’.

 Source: Nigeria’s National Universities Commission

- Lack of domestic capacity has left **6.3 million qualifiedNigerians** without a place between 2012-2017.
- Top destination markets for Nigerian students include UK, USA, and Malaysia.

## Indonesia

- Indonesia is in urgent need for a more educated workforce as only 7% currently hold a university education.
- It is now sending 35% more students abroad than it did a decade ago.
- **Affordability** is the most important decision factor and scholarships will play a big role in school selection.
- Top destination markets for Indonesian students include Australia, Malaysia, and USA.

*Data sources include [ICEF Monitor](https://monitor.icef.com/), [UNESCO](http://uis.unesco.org/), VN Express, [World Education News and Reviews](https://wenr.wes.org/) (WENR), British Council Report, [Nigeria’s National Universities Commission](https://www.nuc.edu.ng/).*

[View full post](https://blog.adventus.io/five-emerging-source-countries-to-watch-in-international-student-recruitment)

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