Czech universities welcomed a record number of international students last year, with the majority coming from Slovakia, Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, data by the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) revealed.

The total number of international students in Czechia reached 52,109 in 2021, including students who secured a place at public and private universities. Over the past year, most international students, 90.5 percent of them were enrolled in public universities, Erudera.com reports.

In 2021, there were 21,913 students from Slovakia studying in the Czech Republic, whereas the number of students from Russia increased by 16.5 percent, those from Ukraine by 8.9 percent, and those from Kazakhstan by 5.2 percent.

Figures show that the number of students from India and Belarus choosing Czech universities to pursue higher education has also been increasing.

According to CSU, the highest percentage of university students from abroad decided to study Information and Communication Technologies. About 30.9 percent of international students in the country were pursuing studies in the field last year.

“However, the most preferred fields with the highest number of foreigners were Health and social care, environmental care, and business, administration and law ,” Jarmila Marešová from the Department of Manpower, Migration and Equal Opportunities of the CZSO said.

Overall, the Ministry of Education and Culture data indicate that last year, a total of 304,073 students studied at one of the Czech universities. Among the 52,109 international students, 26,221 students came from EU countries, accounting for 50.3 percent of the international student population.

Czech universities have experienced an increase in international students in 2020/21 by 4.4 percent and a 0.6 percent decrease in students from the EU’s 27 states. Over the same period, the number of students from third countries increased by 4.7 percent or by 2,355 people.

Ministry’s data also show that the number of international students at Czech universities continued to increase for several years, since 2012, when there were only 38,707 international students in Czechia. The number reached more than 40,000 two years after and continued to increase until last year, when it was at a record high, with universities welcoming 52,109 students from abroad.

In addition to university students, data also showed that Czech education has become popular for primary and high school students. Some 30,543 pupils were enrolled in primary schools in the Czech Republic and 10,053 in high schools during the 2021/22 academic year.

As of 31 December 2021, 660,849 foreigners were legally residing in the Czech Republic, of whom 338,030 or 51.2 percent were staying on a temporary residence permit, whereas 320,534 received a permanent residence permit.

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