An annual survey of Japanese education agents finds that outbound student numbers from this key sending market are drawing very close to pre-COVID benchmarks. Responding member-agencies of the Japan Association of Overseas Studies (JAOS) sent 70,253 students abroad in 2024 for a year-over-year increase of 6.4%.

Looking inside the numbers, JAOS adds that, "The survey also included, for the first time, study tours organized and recruited by junior and senior high schools or local governments, which JAOS member agents planned and supported. These accounted for 15,345 students, or 22% of the total number of study abroad participants."

The 2024 survey reveals some shifting destination preferences among Japanese students with the United States and Philippines recording notable declines of -13% and -18% respectively. Australia appears to be the main beneficiary of those shifts, with a +34% surge in student numbers last year. "Australia, which increased by approximately 4,300 students, overtook the US as the most popular destination. While Asia including the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea surpassed 2019 levels, destinations in Oceania and North America have not yet fully recovered."

Nearly six in ten (57%) students referred by JAOS members went abroad for language programmes of three months or less. Group study tours accounted for nearly a quarter (22%) of outbound volumes in 2024, with language programmes of more than three months making up 10% of Japanese enrolments last year.

Bigger things ahead?

At a March 2023 meeting of the Council for the Creation of Future Education, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida set some ambitious targets for student mobility, both in and out of the country. The Prime Minister said at the time, "We will formulate a New Plan on Overseas Student Dispatch and Foreign Student Acceptance, which includes not only the acceptance of international students, but also the overseas dispatch of Japanese students and others, replacing the current 300,000 Foreign Students Plan. Based on today’s discussion, I request the members to establish new specific indicators, such as achieving the overseas dispatch of 500,000 Japanese students and acceptance of 400,000 foreign students by 2033, in the plan."

The annual JAOS survey, along with data collected by the Japan Student Services Organization
(JASSO) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, aims to provide a more complete picture of Japanese outbound numbers and enrolment patterns.

For additional background, please see:

• "Japan market report: A dual focus on attracting international students and sending more Japanese students abroad"
• "Foreign enrolment in Japan reached record levels in 2024"
• "Survey of Japanese agents indicates significant recovery in outbound student numbers for 2023"
• "Japanese students increasingly returning to study abroad"