Hong Kong had 172,614 higher education students enrolled in 2024/25, up 12% from the previous year and 24% from 2019/20. Non-local enrolments rose even faster, reaching 88,949 – a 24% increase in a single year. They now account for 52% of the total student population, up from 41% in 2019/20.
Daria Simonova, international educational consultant at BONARD, said the figures showed Hong Kong was “clearly becoming a stronger international study destination”, describing the growth in non-local enrolments as impressive.
However, she said the bigger question was “how international this growth really is”, given the continued dominance of students from mainland China
Much of the recent growth has come from non-local students on self-funded courses. They accounted for 62,305 enrolments in 2024/25, with numbers increasing by more than 13,000 over the previous year.
Students from mainland China remain the dominant group among non-local students. They accounted for 79% of non-local enrolments on programs funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC) 2024/25, up from 69% in 2019/20. The number of mainland Chinese students on these programs reached 21,104, an 18% increase on the previous year and 63% higher than in 2019/20.
Simonova said Hong Kong had been “very successful” in attracting students from mainland China, but that its next challenge would be to diversify beyond this market.
She added that Hong Kong was particularly interesting because of how closely education was linked to the government’s wider talent and economic development strategy.
The growth comes as Hong Kong expands its capacity for non-local students and seeks to strengthen its position as an international education hub. The quota for non-local students at UGC-funded universities was raised to 40% in 2023, while the cap is set to increase to 50% from 2026/27.
Simonova said Hong Kong had considerable potential to attract more international students, given the reputation of its universities and its position as a gateway to mainland China.
But she cautioned that attracting students was “only part of the equation”, with accommodation, institutional capacity and graduate employment opportunities becoming increasingly important as numbers grow.
“We believe the real opportunity is not simply to increase student numbers, but to build a more diverse and sustainable education hub that can compete internationally,” Simonova said.
The government is seeking to diversify Hong Kong’s international student population, with efforts to attract more students from ASEAN, the Middle East and Belt and Road countries.
The expansion is also being backed by plans for new university capacity in the Northern Metropolis. The government’s plans include three university towns in San Tin, Hung Shui Kiu and Ta Kwu Ling, bringing together higher education, research, technology and industry as part of the city’s wider economic and innovation ambitions.
The British Council report also considers what Hong Kong’s growing education sector could mean for outbound mobility, including demand for study in the UK, noting that there are early signs that outbound mobility is beginning to slow as enrolment at local higher education institutions grows among Hong Kong permanent residents.
However, it said there is still strong demand for international education, with the UK maintaining a historically high 50% share among the four main English-speaking study destinations.
