The bar chart highlights how many applications were submitted by the international students to European universities between 2004 and 2008.
Overall, what stands out from the graph is that the number of applications from the USA and Japan experienced upward trends, while those from China had a downward trend. Another notable point is that students applied more from China than others at the beginning of the period, however, it was overtaken by the applications of the students submitted from the USA by the end of the period.
As for the applications from the USA, it was around 13,000 in 2004. Following this, those increased steadily at just over 25,000 in 2008. The number of Japanese applicants was approximately 9000 in 2004. Next, that witnessed a gradual growth to 10,000 by the end of the period.
By contrast, the number of Chinese applicants started at around 26,000 in 2004. After that it had a gradual drop to approximately 22,000 in 2005. From 2006 to 2007, the number of applications remained stable at 18,000 , but it declined marginally to just over 15,000. The number of applications submitted by Russian students showed the lowest percentage at around 3000 for the whole period.
