The bar chart compares the number of international students who applied to universities in a particular European country from 2004 to 2008.
Overall, there was a decrease in the number of applicants from China, while the reverse was true for other nations. Moreover, Russia always had the lowest number of applicants throughout the entire period.
In the first year, about 26,000 people applied to the universities in China, making it the highest number among other countries. It then dropped to approximately 18,000 in 2006 and remained unchanged until 2007. This number eventually decreased slightly to precisely 15,0000 in 2008.
In contrast, an increasing trend was observed in the number of applicants in the USA, which recorded 13,000 in the first year. This number then continued to escalate, reaching partially with China in 2006 before reaching up to 26,000 applicants, which surpassed the figure for China in 2008. Similarly, Japan experienced a slight growth in the number of applicants, rising from roughly 6000 in 2004 to 10,000 in 2008.
Although Russia saw an upward trend in the number of applicants, it still remained the lowest number, around the 3.000 mark over the period in this question.