The bar chart displays the number of international students that 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 opposite was true for the US and Japan. By the end of the period, significantly more US students applied to the universities compared to those from other nations. On the contrary, Russia always had the fewest applicants, though its number stayed largely stagnant.
During the first year, the number of Chinese applicants was at its highest, at around 26,000 students, which was twice the figure of the US. It then fell off to approximately 18,000 by 2006, and remained unchanged in the following year, then dropped to roughly 15,000 in 2008. Meanwhile, the amount of US students continued to rise steadily, surpassing China in 2007 with over 20,000 applicants, and peaked at 26,000 in the final year.
In contrast, both Japan and Russia showed considerably lower quantities of students who applied to European universities compared to the previously examined countries. From 2004 to 2005, Japan’s figure flattened at 6,000, following that was a gradual increase, and then ending the period with 10,000 students. Simultaneously, the number of Russian students hovered at around 2,000 with barely any fluctuations throughout the period.