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The enrolment of foreign students in Germany has been stagnating at a high level in the past years. This year’s edition of Wissenschaft weltoffen (2009), Germany’s equivalent to the US Open Doors publication, reports 234,000 international students in 2007/08, which constitutes a slight decrease from 2008. (In the previous reporting period, 246,000 international students were registered in Germany. See With a view to total international student numbers, Germany still ranks third after the US and the UK. The main sending countries are European and East Asian countries, the single most important source being China, which accounts for ten percent of all international students in Germany, followed by Poland, Bulgaria and Russia.
Among German students, on the other hand, the trend for studying abroad continues. In 2006, 83.000 German students were enrolled in a foreign university – up by seven percent from 2005. The most popular destinations remain the Netherlands, the UK, Austria and Switzerland.
The report is published annually by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Higher Education Information System (HIS). Data can be accessed online.