Delhi, June 10: Education, in the era of globalization is a boon for universal growth and sustainable development. Thus, flying high across horizons for higher studies and life-centered skills, has now been a wild craze for most of the Indians.
Among other educationally rich and developed nations, Germany is emerging as the first choice for Indians for achieving higher studies and technical education, said a recent assay.
According to the Wissenschaft weltoffen report published in November 2024 by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), India is now the top country of origin for international students in Germany, with around 49,000 Indian students and 6,700 researchers currently in the country.
Germany hosted a total of nearly 3,80,000 international students and over 75,000 foreign researchers, overtaking the UK as Europe’s most popular academic destination. Only the United States has more, at 86,000.
Germany is seeing a sharp rise in Indian student enrolments, just as the US, UK and Australia witness steep declines, driven by tighter visa rules and rising costs.
“Germany has been a very reliable partner for decades for Indian students,” said Dr Philipp Ackermann, German Ambassador to India, on June 10.
“We have seen the numbers grow over the last couple of years exponentially. Now we have 50,000 Indians in Germany.”
He urged students to consider German universities as a first-choice destination.
“We are really looking for talent. We are looking for the smartest, the brightest ones—the ones who maybe had an idea to go elsewhere. There is first-class education in Germany, especially in STEM, and most of it is in English,” said Ackermann.
The shift is being fuelled by factors such as affordable education, streamlined visa policies and Germany’s demand for skilled workers. Regarding education, Public universities in Germany offer no or low-cost education.Many courses, especially in engineering and technology, are taught in English, which is considered as the window to the world. Germany has strong post-study work and employbility options for international graduates.
In May 2025, Ackermann said that apart from students pursuing their higher studies, Germany needed at least 500,000 skilled workers each year across a wide range of sectors including bakers, butchers, plumbers and people across the skills spectrum. However,the skilled human resources even fall short as against the requirements.
To ease it, Germany introduced an “Opportunity Card” to attract global talent. The card allows applicants without any job offers to apply for a visa, if they meet certain points-based criteria.
“Currently, we issue about 20,000 to 25,000 skilled worker visas a year. That’s not enough.
“We need more—but also the right kind of migration, with skilled, motivated candidates,” Ackermann added.
