The number of appointments made by people interested in taking the GMAT® exam is on an upward trajectory, a sign that the number of GMAT® administrations around the world is poised to grow in the months ahead. As of the end of July, prospective GMAT® candidates signed up to take the test more than 130,000 times, a 4 percent increase over the comparable figure for the first seven months of 2004. But, notably, the number of test registrations is rising rapidly outside the United States even as year-to-date registration activity in the United States is down slightly compared with the same period in 2004.

Several countries are responsible pushing up test-registration levels outside the United States. These nations include the Asian countries of India and Korea, as well as Greece.

The change in monthly registration levels outside the United States are particularly striking. The number of non-U.S. test registrations in July exceeded the level in July 2004 by nearly 29%. In June, monthly registration activity outside the United States increased about 31% compared with June 2004; in May, monthly registration was up 26%.

U.S. test-registration volume was up 1.1% in July 2005 compared with July 2004; registration declined 0.3% in June compared with the same month last year, whereas figures for May show a 4.1% increase compared with April 2004.

The actual number of tests administered through the first seven months of 2005 was up 5.4 percent outside the United States. U.S. testing volume was off 1.9%; globally, GMAT® volume through July 30, 2005, was 115,256, 0.4% more than the figure for the first six months of 2004.

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