New Study Reveals Trends in German International Educational Exchange

The new weltweiser study on educational stays abroad not only highlights developments in long-term student exchange programs but also, for the first time, presents data on non-school-based exchange formats such as language travel, work & travel, volunteering, and internships abroad. Here is an overview of the key findings:

Number of Participants in Student Exchange Programs
In the 2022/23 program year, approximately 17,750 German students participated in a student exchange. Around 13,000 of them spent at least three months abroad, attending a public school and living with a host family, organized by an exchange agency. The sector has largely recovered from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and has returned to participation levels similar to the 2015/16 school year. The highest number of participants recorded was in 2010/11, with about 21,350 students going abroad.

Most Popular Destinations
In the 2022/23 school year, more than 87 percent of German exchange students chose English-speaking countries as their destination. The USA remained the top choice with about 4,782 participants, followed by Canada (3,498) and Ireland (1,151). Other popular countries included France, Spain, Japan, as well as Costa Rica, Argentina, and Brazil. In total, German students spread across approximately 40 different host countries worldwide.

The Exchange Market in Germany
Roughly 90 exchange organizations and agencies across Germany offer individual high school exchange programs. The weltweiser study found that in 2022/23, around 40 percent of these providers sent fewer than 100 students abroad. About 20 percent placed between 100 and 199 students, another 20 percent between 200 and 299, while the remaining 20 percent accounted for up to approximately 1,000 participants. The data confirms a highly diversified market with no single agency dominating.

Gender Distribution in Exchange Programs
As in previous years, there was a clear gender gap among participants: In both school-based and non-school-based exchange programs, girls and young women made up around two-thirds of all participants. This imbalance was particularly pronounced in volunteering programs, where nearly 75 percent of participants were female. In contrast, over 40 percent of participants in agency-organized work & travel programs were male.

Trends in Non-School-Based Exchange Programs
Across the non-school-based formats language travel, volunteering, work & travel, and internships the average participant age ranged between 19 and 25. A closer look at destination preferences shows that Europe was most popular for language travel (almost 85 percent) and internships (over 75 percent). Most volunteer programs took place in Africa (over 30 percent) or Asia (nearly 25 percent), while the majority of work & travel programs were carried out in Australia or New Zealand.

Further Information & Literature
- weltweiser Study - Stays Abroad, as of March 2025: weltweiser.de
- Thomas Terbeck: Handbuch Fernweh - The Guide to Student Exchange. With clear price-performance tables of high school programs for 20 host countries. 21st edition, weltweiser Verlag 2023. 448 pages, €22.00, ISBN 978-3-935897-44-0: schueleraustausch-weltweit.de
- Thomas Terbeck: Handbuch Weltentdecker - The Guide for Stays Abroad. With short introductions of various ways to go abroad. 13th edition, weltweiser Verlag 2023. 240 pages, €18.00, ISBN 978-3-935897-43-3: gap-year.de
- JuBi - The Youth Education Fair: The largest specialized fair on the topic of stays abroad for students, young adults - and their parents: jugendbildungsmesse.de
- HighSchool Finder: The online guides to high school stays in the USA, Australia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and New Zealand

weltweiser - The Independent Educational Counseling Service
Prinz-Albert-Straße 31, 53113 Bonn, Germany
Email: presse@weltweiser.de
Phone: +49 228 39 184 784

Background
Since 2002, the independent educational counseling service and publishing house weltweiser has been systematically collecting data on student exchanges. The results are regularly published as part of the weltweiser study. In addition to short-term trends, the data also show long-term developments in the sector. For the 2022/23 program year, data on extracurricular programs was collected for the first time. The aim here, too, is to be able to map trends and developments over the long term.
In addition, since 2003, weltweiser has been touring Germany annually with the Youth Education Fair JuBi. In 2025, the event will take place more than 60 times nationwide and is the largest specialized fair on the topic of "Education Abroad." Around 100 renowned exchange organizations and international education experts provide information about offers such as student exchange, high school, language and youth travel, volunteering, au pair, work and travel, as well as internships and studies abroad. The on-site JuBi fairs are complemented by numerous JuBi online events.

This release was published on openPR.