The chart below illustrates how many students from China, Japan, USA and Russia applying tertiary education in Europe over a 4-year period from 2004 to 2008.
Overall, the number of students from Japan and USA choosing European universities increased, the opposite was true for China. Moreover, over the first half period, China commanded the largest share of the total foreign students; however, from 2006 onwards, this position belonged to the USA. The figure for Russian students stayed unchanged over the period and also the lowest.
In 2004, Chinese students in Europe held the top spot in 2004, with around 28000 undergraduates, which was twice the number of the high education trainers from the USA. Furthermore, the figure for Japan and Russia accounted for the lower numbers, which was over 5000 students for the former and around 2000 students for the latter.
Afterward, China witnessed a dramatic decline in applicants to European higher educational institutes, dropping to approximately 15000 students in 2008. While a negligible difference was observed in the number of students from the USA, surpassing China in 2007 and then reached a peak at 28000 in 2008, accounting for the highest portion. The number of Japanese students experienced an annual increase of 1000 students, finishing the period at 10000 students. Whereas, Russia had the lowest number of students choosing universities in Europe for further study, which fluctuated around 2000 students throughout the period.