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Asia Fuels Market Growth

“Rapid economic growth in Asia has been the most important cause of the growth of trade in education over the past quarter century.”

— IDP Education Australia

Asia is the engine that will drive this dramatic worldwide demand for education for at least the next two decades, led by the emerging mega-markets of India and China.

Roughly 46% of today’s international students come from Asia. Population growth throughout the region is projected to produce a demand for an additional 800,000 international university places in the 15 years from 1995 to 2010, and a further 1.5 million spaces between 2010 and 2025.

Even so, after several years of dramatic growth in the number of Asian students studying abroad, the past year has seen some uncertainty. Enrolment growth slowed or dipped in many destination countries through 2004 and 2005 as the market adjusted to a number of new developments. These include massive investment in post-secondary capacity (notably in China), changing priorities and attitudes regarding study abroad, and the emergence of traditional source countries—such as Singapore and Malaysia—as regional study destinations in their own right.

“The Chinese are engaged in the biggest university expansion in history,”The Economist reported in September 2005. “In the 1980s, only 2-3% of school-leavers went to university. In 2003, the figure was 17%.” Partly because of this expansion, China is not only the leading global source for international students but also an important regional destination for Asian students.

Reflecting the underlying strength of markets throughout Asia, enrolments appear to have rebounded again in 2006 amid growing evidence of new approaches to marketing and delivering educational services in the region. Education providers and agents alike are now refining their strategies, forging new partnerships, and gathering market information in response to intensifying competition.

Shanghai 2005

Next month’s ICEF Asia Workshop in Shanghai will address this need with a market intelligence seminar entitled, “The New Asian Student: Expectations and Experiences of International Education in 2006”. The seminar will feature summary findings from a landmark survey of more than 20,000 international students from Asia, interpret their motivations and preferences for study abroad, and explore strategies for success for both educators and agents. Additional market intelligence seminars will review best practices for working with Chinese agents as well as the latest in visa processing for some of the main destination countries present at the event.

The focal point of the Shanghai workshop will be the one-on-one networking sessions between educators from 22 countries (from Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania) meeting with agents from China, Korea, and 16 other Asian markets. “Asia is not a single market,” notes ICEF director Markus Badde. “It’s a cluster of critically important national markets, each with its unique characteristics and opportunities. Given the dynamism we see in the region now, this is the time to build relationships and get the latest on market conditions.”

The ICEF Asia Workshop will be held in Shanghai from October 14-16. Detailed programme and registration information for the ICEF Asia Workshop is available online.

Return to Bulletin Home – September 2006

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