Indian Students Studying Abroad (2025–2026) Shift in Destination Preferences

 shifts in destination preferences among Indian students studying abroad in 2025–2026, including key drivers, trends, and implications.

Key Trends & Shifts (2025–2026)

  1. Rise of Germany as a Top Destination

    • According to upGrad’s Transnational Education Report (2024–25), Germany has become the most preferred study destination for Indian students, overtaking the U.S. and Canada. 

    • Its share jumped to 32.6% according to upGrad. 

    • Reasons: relatively low or no tuition (in many public universities), strong engineering/STEM programs, good post-study work opportunities, and stable visa policies. 

  2. Decline in Interest for Traditional Destinations (US, Canada, UK)

    • United States: Applications are falling significantly.  reports a ~63% drop in students choosing the U.S. between 2023 and 2025

    • Canada: According to CAREER CRAFTERS , Canada’s share dropped from about 17.85% to 9.3%. 

    • UK: Despite being a high-quality destination, the UK has also seen a decline. India Today notes a drop of ~28% in student numbers. 

    • Contributing factors include visa uncertainty, rising costs, and changing post-study work dynamics. 

  3. Growth of Other European Destinations

    • Beyond Germany, Ireland is seeing a strong surge: data shows its share among Indian students more than doubling to ~7.6% in 2025 from ~3% in 2023. y

    • France, Spain, Italy are also increasingly attractive due to lower living costs (relative to US/UK), and favorable student visa/work policies. 

    • For tech-focused fields (especially AI, Data Science), Germany and Ireland are emerging as hotspots: Leap’s data shows that many Indian students interested in AI are choosing these countries.

  4. Emergence of Middle East & Asia

    • UAE (Dubai): Very significant rise — India Today reports that a large fraction of international students in Dubai now come from India. 

    • Factors: proximity to India, cultural familiarity, growing number of quality universities, and a favorable work-study ecosystem. 

    • Asia-Pacific: Anecdotally, platforms like upGrad are expanding their partnerships in Asian countries (e.g., Singapore, Malaysia), recognizing growing demand. 

  5. Changing Motivations: From PR to Career-Readiness

    • According to CAREER CRAFTERS  report, fewer students are primarily motivated by permanent residency: only ~19.9% said PR was their main goal. 

    • Instead, career outcomes are now a top priority: ~45.7% of respondents cited career prospects as their primary driver. 

    • This shows a shift: Indian students are increasingly looking at ROI (return on investment), employability, and real-world skills instead of just migration.

  6. Growth in STEM / AI / Data Science Programs

    • There is a marked increase in interest in high-growth fields like AI, ML, Data Analytics. 

    • Universities in Germany, Ireland, and other emerging destinations are capitalizing on this trend by offering specialized programs, which aligns well with Indian students' career ambitions.

  7. Widening Geographic Base within India

    • The demand for studying abroad is not just from metropolitan cities; Tier-2 (and even Tier-3) Indian cities are increasingly contributing to the outbound student pool.

    • This implies a democratization of study-abroad aspirations, not just limited to wealthy urban families.



    • # Indian Students Studying Abroad (2025–2026) Shift in Destination Preferences






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