Nearly half of GMAT exams taken between July 2015 and June 2016 were taken by candidates younger than 25 years old.
The GMAT candidate pipeline has seen a significant shift in the number of young aspiring business school candidates since testing year (TY) 2007. In the most recent testing year, TY 2016, candidates younger than 25 sat for nearly half (49%) of global GMAT exams, up from 37 percent in TY 2007.
The growing proportion of younger talent in the global candidate pipeline is driven mainly by citizens of East Asian and European countries. Among top examinee citizenship groups, Germany has seen the most sizable shift in the proportion of GMAT exams taken by younger candidates, 71 percent in TY 2016, up from just 38 percent in TY 2007.
Citizens of China, however, are the key drivers of the overall global shift. This group of candidates represented over a quarter (27%) of all GMAT testing in TY 2016 and saw the second largest increase in candidates younger than 25 when compared to TY 2007.
For detailed breakdowns GMAT examinees, download the Profile of GMAT Testing, TY2016. For more country specific information on trends in the GMAT candidate pipeline download the 2015 GMAC Geographic Trends Report Series. Updated resources will be made available to schools later in 2017.