Turkmenistan ranked second among countries in terms of the number of students studying at Russian universities. According to data from the Russian Ministry of Education and Science, cited by asia24.media, 57 060 Turkmen citizens are studying at Russian higher education institutions in the current academic year.

Kazakhstan ranks first with 60 818 students, followed by China (56 766). Next on the list are Uzbekistan (46 598), India (38 831), Tajikistan (24 640), Belarus (16 048), Kyrgyzstan (9 643), Azerbaijan (9 633), and Iran (9 495).

Overall, the number of international students in Russia increased by 7 thousand over the past year, reaching 402 thousand students from 179 countries. Deputy Minister of Education and Science Mogilevsky reported that, taking into account all categories of students, the total number could reach 425 thousand. Further growth is projected over the next five years—by another 93 thousand, or 28%.