The bar graph compares the number of international applicants of in a European country throughout four years (2004-2008). Overall, over the whole period, the number of applicants from Chine and Japan swapped places. Meanwhile, the figure for the USA and Russia remained almost unchanged.
To begin with, in 2004, the number of the pupil from Japan was significantly below 20000. Over the whole period the number of Russian’s applicants experienced only increased. Then, it has reached almost 27000, by 2008. In 2008, the figure of the USA was just over 5000, while, that of Russia was about 2500. During the whole period, the number of the USA and Russia was 10000 and almost 2600, respectively. Of particular note is that the relative positions of them: Japan, the USA, and Russia remained the same over the period in question.
In contrast, the number of applicants from China was approximately 27000. The half of the period, this figure decreased to 17000. In the second half of the period, its figure remained unchanged (by 2008).