Band 7+: The chart below shows the number of students from four different countries applying to European universities. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The bar chart depicts the number of students from China, Japan, USA, and Russia applying to universities in a European country over a 5-year period, starting from 2004.

Overall, it is evident that the number of Chinese student applicants decreased, while the opposite was true for students from the USA and Japan. The number of Russian student applicants was consistently the lowest during the period.

In 2004, the number of students applying from China stood at over 275000, which was twice as much as the number of applicants from the USA. Over the following two years, both countries had approximately 175000 student applicants. Subsequently, the number of students applying from the USA saw a significant increase to 275000, while the number of applicants from China dropped to nearly 15000 in the final year.

In 2004, Japan had 6000 student applicants, compared to only 2500 from Russia. Over the next five years, the number of student applicants from Japan increased by 4000 in 2008. Meanwhile, the number of Russian student applicants remained constant throughout the period, ending at approximately 2500 students.