The number of Uzbek students in South Korea has risen to third place

The number of Uzbek students in South Korea has risen to third place

Uzbekistan has taken third place in terms of the number of foreign students studying in South Korea. According to the Ministry of Education of South Korea and KEDI, as of April 1, 2026, there are 20,876 Uzbek students studying in the country. This figure is equivalent to 6.8 percent of the total number of all foreign students.

Uzbekistan ranks third in this rating after Vietnam (96,834 people) and China (78,890 people). Among the CIS countries, Uzbekistan leads by a significant margin.

The number of foreign students in South Korea has also reached a historical record. As of April 1, 2026, a total of 307,464 foreigners were studying in higher education institutions, colleges, and various educational programs in the country. This is 54,030 people or 21.3 percent more than the figure from a year earlier. Thus, the number of foreign students in South Korea has exceeded 300,000 for the first time.

According to Immigration Service data, the number of Uzbek citizens residing in South Korea for the purpose of education and language learning is recorded at 22,179. The difference between these figures and the education statistics is explained by the different calculation methods used by the two agencies.

It is noted that interest in studying in South Korea is growing among Uzbek youth. Over the past two years, the number of schools teaching the Korean language in Uzbekistan has more than doubled, and nearly 50,000 people registered for the TOPIK exam over the course of one year.