A statistics release from Education Malaysia shows that Malaysia saw a 25% rise in international student applications in the 2024 calendar year, with growth primarily coming from Asia and the MENA area, particularly for undergraduate studies.

The government agency in charge of promoting the nation as a study destination, Education Malaysia, released figures indicating that 81,812 applications from overseas students were received in 2024, a 25.5% increase over 65,208 applications the year before.

Source Countries

The biggest share of applicants by region was from East Asia (36,227 applications, up 24% from 2023), followed by South Asia (14,357 applications, up 14.9%), and the MENA area (11,445, up 31.4%).

Applications from all across the world increased last year. Central Asia saw the biggest year-over-year gain, rising 77% to 2,714 applications, while Southeast Asia saw a 40.1% increase to 9,695 applications.

China easily led the individual source market with 33,216 applications, up 24.8 percent from the year before. Bangladesh came in second with 6,917 applications, up 5.2% from 2023 levels.

Indonesia (5,556 applications, +28.9%), Ind(2,591, +36.2%),2), and Pakistan (2,417, +24.5%) completed the top five.

Of the top 10 source markets, Sudan has experienced the most annual growth at 80%, while Nigeria, in ninth place, was the only nation to submfeweress applications than the year before.

Study level

Undergraduate studies, which made up over half of all applications (37,276), saw the biggest gain at 45.4%. Certificate-level programs saw increases of 28.8%, and master's degrees saw an increase of 18.8%. There was a modest decline in both PhD and diploma applications.

Institution type

With 35,881 applications, or 34.7% more than the previous year, private institutions received the most study applications from international students in 2024. Public universities received 26,110 applications, or 13.2% more than the previous year.

Significant growwasere also seen in university colleges (+34.6), public colleges (+16.7), language centers (+18.3), vocational skills centers (+35.6), and branch campuses of foreign institutions (+47.9%).