The chart illustrates the number of international students from China, Japan, the USA, and Russia who applied to a European country between 2004 and 2008.
Overall, the USA experienced the most significant growth in applications, overtaking China in 2007 to become the leading source of international students. By contrast, China witnessed a dramatic decline over the same period, while figures for Japan rose modestly and those for Russia remained largely stable.
In 2004, China recorded the highest number of applicants at around 27,000, followed by the USA with approximately 13,000. Over the next four years, applications from the USA increased steadily and almost doubled, reaching about 27,000 by 2008. Similarly, Japan’s numbers stayed constant at roughly 7,000 until 2006, before rising gradually to 10,000 at the end of the period.
Conversely, the number of Chinese students dropped sharply to around 15,000 in 2008, after remaining relatively stable between 2006 and 2007. Meanwhile, applications from Russia fluctuated slightly but hovered close to 3,000 throughout the five-year period.