Key points:
- Asia is the most expensive region for international education in the world.
- China has some of the highest international school prices in the world.
- Phnom Penh has the cheapest international school fees in Asia.
- Despite the lower cost of living, Hanoi and HCMC have some of the highest international school prices in Asia.
According to website ‘International Schools Database’ Phnom Penh is the cheapest place to send a child for an ‘international education’ in Asia.
| Rank | City | Minimum | Q1 | Median | Q3 | Maximum |
| 1 | Beijing | $11,802 | $29,872 | $35,233 | $36,600 | $38,974 |
| 2 | Shanghai | $5,163 | $21,261 | $30,146 | $40,315 | $43,191 |
| 3 | Shenzhen | $12,438 | $21,163 | $25,666 | $31,645 | $36,144 |
| 4 | Guangzhou | $13,547 | $19,743 | $24,663 | $31,280 | $48,597 |
| 5 | Seoul | $8,721 | $20,354 | $23,455 | $27,538 | $33,104 |
| 6 | Singapore | $4,482 | $13,587 | $21,588 | $24,233 | $38,517 |
| 7 | Tokyo | $5,882 | $13,535 | $18,805 | $22,102 | $27,725 |
| 8 | Hanoi | $3,643 | $5,762 | $18,064 | $20,329 | $28,435 |
| 9 | Hong Kong | $2,270 | $14,937 | $16,447 | $22,180 | $32,287 |
| 10 | Ho Chi Minh City | $5,095 | $8,476 | $16,162 | $19,776 | $25,543 |
| 11 | Taipei | $12,631 | $14,140 | $15,789 | $18,105 | $29,327 |
| 12 | Bangkok | $2,550 | $9,181 | $15,060 | $20,117 | $31,044 |
| 13 | Yangon | $3,600 | $9,088 | $13,000 | $21,668 | $25,340 |
| 14 | Jakarta | $2,502 | $9,272 | $12,693 | $19,468 | $30,029 |
| 15 | Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe | $5,111 | $8,896 | $12,235 | $15,027 | $23,337 |
| 16 | Pattaya | $3,914 | $8,022 | $12,214 | $17,110 | $18,924 |
| 17 | Manila | $2,476 | $6,223 | $11,050 | $16,820 | $20,710 |
| 18 | Phuket | $4,558 | $7,167 | $8,554 | $11,320 | $21,169 |
| 19 | Johor Bahru | $2,923 | $5,791 | $7,732 | $17,174 | $20,463 |
| 20 | Penang | $3,508 | $5,341 | $6,114 | $6,813 | $9,376 |
| 21 | Kuala Lumpur | $2,492 | $4,248 | $5,782 | $9,379 | $23,542 |
| 22 | Phnom Penh | $1,895 | $3,625 | $5,000 | $7,524 | $19,941 |
The website states:
To calculate the prices of international schools, we used the whole price of a full term for one 6-year old child, excluding once-off costs such as enrollment fees, application fees, etc. Only those cities with 7 or more international schools, and with prices publicly available representing at least 25% of the schools in the city, were used in this article.
All prices were converted from the local currency into USD using the exchange rate valid on November 19th 2020. Prices for schools used in this research were gathered on the same date. There may be additional international schools in the cities discussed in this research that have not been included, because their data was not made available to us.
“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 five continents. Naturally, this means that we gather and analyse a huge amount of information about international schools all over the world.
Starting in 2019, we began using this data to evaluate the prices of international schools across the globe. For 2020 we have expanded this research and in this article, we share and analyze the prices of international schools in Asia in 2020.
Below, we have analysed price data from 22 cities in 13 Asian countries, in graph and table forms. While we have used all price data available to us, 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 other regions individually and globally can be found at the bottom of this article.”
