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Singapore ranked fourth, followed by Hong Kong in fifth place and Kuala Lumpur in sixth.
Tokyo, Japan has ranked the best city to study in 2025 across Asia, coming in second globally.
The latest QS Best Student Cities ranking has determined the top urban destinations for international students, taking into account a diverse range of indicators grouped into six key categories:
- University rankings — How well do those universities perform in the latest rankings?
- Student mix — What proportion of the population are students? How inclusive is the city and the country it is located in?
- Desirability — How safe is the city? How many respondents to the student survey wanted to study in the city?
- Employer activity — What is youth employment like in the city? What do employers think of the graduates produced by universities in the city?
- Affordability — What is the cost of tuition at the city's universities? What is the cost of living for students in the city?
- Student view — What are students' ratings on the city's friendliness, sustainability, diversity and more?
Based on this, the top 10 cities across Asia for students are as follows:
| Ranking in Asia | City | Score | Global ranking |
| 1 | Tokyo, Japan | 99.2 | 2 |
| 2 | Seoul, South Korea | 97.8 | 3 |
| 3 | Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe, Japan | 90.6 | 12 |
| 4 | Singapore, Singapore | 89.6 | 15 |
| 5 | Hong Kong SAR, Hong Kong SAR | 86 | 22 |
| 6 | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 85.4 | 23 |
| 7 | Taipei, Taiwan | 84.6 | 26 |
| 8 | Beijing, China | 83.7 | 31 |
| 9 | Shanghai, China | 77.7 | 46 |
| 10 | Bangkok, Thailand | 71.8 | 59 |
In these rankings, Tokyo has achieved a perfect score of 100 in the areas of employer activity and desirability — the top city for those metrics. With Tokyo and Osaka, Japan has two cities in the world’s top 20. To note, other cities in Malaysia also made the list; namely, Subang Jaya (109) and Shah Alam (123). As for Indonesia, cities that made the list include Yogyakarta (117), Jakarta (120), Bandung (132), and Surabaya (142).
In terms of employer activity, Singapore scored 84.3 while Kuala Lumpur scored 85.1, and Bangkok, Thailand scored 88.4.
The global rankings were as follows:
- London, United Kingdom (Overall score: 100)
- Tokyo, Japan (99.2)
- Seoul, South Korea (97.8)
- Munich, Germany (97.7)
- Melbourne, Australia (97.1)
- Sydney, Australia (95.4)
- Paris, France (94.6)
- Zurich, Switzerland (94.5)
- Berlin, Germany (94.4)
- Montreal, Canada (92.1)
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