Statistics and Figures for Foreign Students Studying in Taiwan

If you’re at all interested in international education or international students in Taiwan, I strongly recommend downloading the Taiwan Ministry of Education Excel stat data-sheet that includes very detailed statistics on the topic (source):

Foreign students are the bridges of a nation to the international society. The number of students studying in Taiwan indicates the level of internationalization and international competitiveness of the nation’s education, as well as representing the nation’s power and ability to attract foreigners. In 2007, the total number of students (including degree-level, exchange, and language study students) reached 17,742, which registers an increase of 3,263, compared to the 14,479 count in 2006 (appendix 1).

Degree-seeking students studying in Taiwan in 2006 were 3,935 and 5,259 in 2007, which registers an increase of 1,324 persons (appendixes 1 and 2). In 2007, most of the foreign students studying for degrees in Taiwan come from Asian countries, reaching a total of 3,694 or 70%; the second largest group comes from continental America, accounting for a total of 992 persons or 19% (appendix 3). The foreign students in Taiwan come from 117 countries and the top five nations are Vietnam (806), Malaysia (700), Indonesia (425), Japan (409), and the USA (348) (appendix 4). The foreign students are studying in 109 institutions in total, with the largest number of them studying in National Taiwan University (438) and the remaining distributed in the following institutions: Ming Chuan University (426), National Cheng Kung University (414), National Cheng Chi University (405), and National Taiwan Normal University (207) (Appendix 5). In terms of subjects studied, the largest group falls in the science/technology/medicine/agriculture category with a total of 1,765 persons or 34%, and the second largest group falls in the business management category with a total of 1,712 persons or 33% (appendix 6). [..]

A total of 9135 persons in 2006 and 10,177 persons in 2007 are studying in the language centers in the universities, registering an increase of 1042 persons. […]

Very interesting and the growth is quite impressive. BTW – I had no idea there were 31 Israeli students studying in Taiwan. I would recheck that figure.