The bar chart and table illustrate information about foreign students studying in four English-speaking countries in 2004 and 2012.
Overall, the total number of overseas students increased in all 4 countries and Australia saw the most significant rise in the percentage of foreign students while that of the USA remained the same.
In 2004, the number of students from abroad in the USA was around 175 thousand, and this figure rose significantly to almost 250 thousand in 2012. The UK and Australia experienced rises of similar scale compared to the USA, both increased to around 200 thousand. Canada rose the least in the number of students, from around 49 to just over 50 thousand over the period.
Even though the USA showed a stark increase in the number of overseas students, the percentage of foreign students in this country remained the same at 2%, the lowest among 4 countries. In contrast, Australia’s percentage rose by a whopping 5% with a similar increase in the number of foreign students, and this is also the country with the highest percentage.
