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New research reveals the cost of international education around the world in 2022

Key points:

  • Cities from just 4 countries - USA, China, Switzerland, and the UK - comprise the top 10 list of most expensive cities.
  • The median price of international schools in 43 cities has risen. While in many cities the increases are minimal, in others they are significant.
  • The least expensive city for international school fees this year is Ipoh - Perak in Malaysia.
  • In Europe, Copenhagen remains the least expensive city for international education. In Africa the cheapest median prices for international schools are in Cape Town, and in the Americas it is Lima in Peru.

At the International Schools Database, we help local and expat parents choose the perfect international school for their children. Our database allows parents to find, research and compare international schools in cities across the world. Naturally, this means that we gather and analyse a huge amount of information about international schools.

Starting in 2019, we began using this data to evaluate the prices of international schools across the globe. We are now in our fourth year of this project, and we have been able to pinpoint certain price trends such as the most expensive regions, the regions with the biggest variety of prices, and more.

Below, we have analysed the worldwide price data from 76 cities in 50 countries, in graph and table forms. While we have used all price data available to us as of Dec 31st 2022, there may be additional schools and prices not included in each city, because they do not make their price data available or it is unknown to us. Links to additional research focusing in each of the regions individually can be found at the bottom of this article and here can be found the results of the previous year 2021.

Worldwide Prices of International Schools Per Year

The graph below is known as a box plot graph. It shows a comprehensive view of the range of prices in each city, instead of just an average, as a single average price may not necessarily represent the full picture of prices in each destination. Since there is a lot to unpack in this graph, we have also provided a little explanation on how to read the graph easily at the end of the article.

How to read this graph

Highlights and takeaways from the research findings

New York City remains the most expensive metropolis in the world for international schooling. In fact, it has gotten even more expensive since 2021 with maximum prices topping $60,000 per year for the first time. ‘The Big Apple’ is not the only US city in this situation however - San Francisco Bay Area is also the 4th most expensive city when it comes to international school costs. China has a total of four cities in the top 10 most expensive on our list (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou), while Switzerland follows with 3 (Zurich, Lausanne-Vaud and Geneva). London, a new entry to the top 10 last year, has risen three places to become the 7th most expensive city in the world for international schools.

Of the 76 cities included in this year’s analysis, 43 showed an increase in median price since last year. In most cases this increase was marginal or below 10%, however the median price in certain cities increased beyond this - up to 19% in Panama City, 17% in Istanbul, 16% in Vienna and 12% in Guangzhou. Many factors, which will differ from country to country, could have caused this.

On the other side of the coin, the median price also reduced in several cities. Of the top 10 least expensive cities for international school costs, the median cost slightly reduced in 8 (Valencia, Penang, Johannesburg, Kampala, Kuala Lumpur, Phnom Penh, Copenhagen, Casablanca and Cape Town). Two notable exceptions regarding cost decreases are Sofia, which decreased by over 30%, and Johor Bahru, which decreased by 22%. Again, many factors which could be unique to each individual country may have contributed to these decreases.

In our analysis for 2022 we added four new cities - Riga, Vilnius, Bali and Ipoh - Perak, which shows the increasing demand for international schools in these destinations. Ipoh - Perak in Malaysia is currently the least expensive city for international schooling in the world, with Bali not far behind as the 10th least expensive. Riga on the other hand is much higher in the list, making it into the top 20 most expensive cities at position 17, while Vilnius stands at 51st position in the full list of cities. It will be interesting to see how this changes over the coming years.

You can find a breakdown of exact prices for each city in the table below. But if you’d like even more analysis, we have also compiled price data by region; you can find links to this additional research at the bottom of this article. If you require any further information or have additional questions, don't hesitate to contact us at andrea@international-schools-database.com.

Prices of International Schools Per Year

Rank City Minimum Q1 Median Q3 Maximum
1 New York City $25,220 $37,304 $43,100 $52,908 $62,700
2 Beijing $10,397 $30,444 $36,243 $37,838 $39,261
3 Shanghai $4,929 $24,065 $34,126 $41,462 $45,550
4 San Francisco Bay Area $12,632 $27,763 $31,148 $34,985 $38,790
5 Zurich $8,685 $26,348 $27,646 $30,113 $37,900
6 Shenzhen $12,844 $22,440 $27,255 $34,148 $46,057
7 Guangzhou $10,173 $17,252 $26,385 $30,444 $46,391
8 Lausanne - Vaud $16,333 $18,658 $24,012 $30,772 $42,400
9 Geneva $16,646 $19,913 $23,309 $27,563 $30,459
10 London $3,871 $12,585 $21,758 $27,108 $36,173
11 Singapore $5,321 $13,800 $21,386 $24,505 $38,531
12 Seoul $5,242 $16,525 $21,352 $25,185 $32,301
13 Chicago $5,980 $13,263 $21,243 $32,950 $33,400
14 Hanoi $5,183 $16,207 $19,505 $22,302 $28,820
15 Toronto $10,888 $14,113 $17,908 $25,520 $27,363
16 Hong Kong $2,253 $15,243 $17,561 $22,972 $34,723
17 Riga $5,629 $6,769 $17,270 $17,860 $18,056
18 Brussels $7,383 $11,962 $16,868 $22,031 $38,530
19 Ho Chi Minh City $4,784 $9,962 $16,078 $21,388 $25,344
20 Tokyo $4,652 $10,472 $15,254 $18,228 $23,109
21 Taipei $11,512 $12,853 $14,757 $17,529 $30,244
22 Milan $2,950 $7,241 $13,301 $16,648 $19,716
23 Yangon $7,010 $10,100 $13,263 $15,875 $27,170
24 Frankfurt am Main $4,259 $9,413 $13,247 $16,458 $24,350
25 Vienna $6,039 $7,257 $13,163 $20,511 $23,123
26 Paris $2,548 $8,860 $12,921 $16,754 $33,736
27 Bangkok $2,539 $8,419 $12,363 $16,981 $25,968
28 Lisbon $5,052 $8,876 $12,237 $13,741 $15,259
29 Bucharest $4,398 $8,204 $12,041 $15,219 $21,550
30 Rome $6,289 $8,608 $11,773 $16,142 $19,630
31 Panama City $5,080 $7,280 $11,333 $15,614 $17,657
32 Athens $5,267 $9,440 $11,263 $11,498 $12,690
33 Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe $5,720 $8,041 $11,196 $12,625 $19,220
34 Budapest $4,408 $5,699 $11,168 $13,216 $24,000
35 Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman $1,402 $6,263 $10,891 $14,295 $26,021
36 Pattaya $3,427 $7,707 $10,802 $15,153 $17,756
37 Bratislava $5,492 $8,383 $10,673 $15,216 $24,869
38 Doha $1,312 $7,982 $10,591 $13,210 $20,847
39 Berlin $3,218 $10,190 $10,542 $12,851 $17,270
40 San Jose $4,292 $8,853 $10,296 $11,677 $18,742
41 Prague $5,095 $8,336 $9,571 $15,375 $25,654
42 Madrid $4,183 $7,461 $8,951 $10,089 $15,376
43 Muscat $1,195 $4,924 $8,726 $11,181 $21,426
44 Abu Dhabi $2,532 $6,836 $8,724 $12,765 $20,421
45 Kuwait City $1,231 $6,847 $8,655 $11,514 $17,953
46 Barcelona $4,688 $7,873 $8,617 $11,821 $19,364
47 Rotterdam - The Hague $4,130 $6,436 $8,585 $17,763 $25,959
48 Riyadh $1,708 $5,986 $8,513 $12,903 $25,421
49 Chiang Mai $3,866 $6,806 $8,495 $9,348 $11,047
50 Mallorca $6,114 $8,046 $8,421 $8,918 $11,982
51 Vilnius $4,720 $6,337 $8,249 $11,976 $17,419
52 Phuket $4,390 $6,231 $8,239 $9,637 $18,363
53 Manila $2,181 $6,638 $8,154 $15,540 $21,051
54 Lima $4,508 $6,053 $8,094 $11,970 $16,160
55 Warsaw $4,405 $6,338 $7,988 $10,955 $21,318
56 Sofia $3,339 $5,953 $7,348 $10,813 $21,942
57 Nairobi $935 $5,258 $7,310 $13,523 $30,934
58 Malaga - Costa del Sol $5,903 $6,275 $7,133 $7,822 $9,386
59 Algarve $5,084 $6,436 $7,056 $7,820 $10,337
60 Manama $1,004 $3,900 $6,904 $9,823 $24,912
61 Istanbul $2,100 $3,785 $6,885 $16,094 $36,570
62 Johor Bahru $2,951 $6,334 $6,629 $15,391 $19,750
63 Alicante - Costa Blanca $1,984 $5,659 $6,543 $8,051 $9,515
64 Addis Ababa $2,100 $4,560 $6,500 $12,544 $28,009
65 Amsterdam $3,792 $5,015 $6,495 $18,390 $27,562
66 Valencia $3,572 $5,880 $6,027 $7,961 $8,620
67 Bali $2,664 $4,860 $5,890 $9,467 $13,757
68 Penang $3,950 $4,849 $5,768 $6,143 $7,083
69 Johannesburg $1,101 $4,233 $5,456 $6,628 $23,684
70 Kampala $1,035 $2,560 $5,265 $7,468 $21,100
71 Kuala Lumpur $1,809 $4,081 $5,016 $8,265 $22,020
72 Phnom Penh $2,400 $3,703 $4,908 $7,902 $20,340
73 Copenhagen $3,665 $3,974 $4,501 $5,393 $18,999
74 Casablanca $1,570 $3,635 $4,067 $10,911 $11,734
75 Cape Town $2,203 $3,473 $4,051 $4,417 $5,634
76 Ipoh - Perak $2,316 $2,401 $2,632 $2,779 $3,065

source: www.international-schools-database.com

How to read the graph

The purple box shows the middle portion of the data, known in statistical lingo as the Interquartile Range. This is the ‘ballpark’ range that you would usually expect to pay in that particular city. The horizontal lines at each end of the box represent the First Quartile (Q1) and Third Quartile (Q3). These are the prices that would be considered somewhat cheaper (for Q1) or more expensive (for Q3) than the norm.

The median is shown as a vertical bar in the centre of the box. This is the price of the school in the exact middle of the range, i.e. the half-way point. Finally, you’ll see dots next to some of the box plots. These are ‘outliers’, prices that sit outside of all of the above ranges.

⇧ Go back to the graph ⇧

Additional research for other regions: