The line graph below illustrates Vietnamese scholars studying in three reported countries between 2000 and 2015. Overall, while an upward trend was witnessed in the USA and France, Russia experienced the opposite. Notably, the growth in the number of students studying in America was significant.
In 2000, France was the leading destination for Vietnamese, with 3.5 million, followed by Russia, with 3 million. Despite a decrease to 2.5 million in 2005, this figure grew significantly to reach 4.5 million by 2015 after remaining unchanged for 5 years. Similarly, Russia, with 3 million in 2000, experienced a continuous decline over a decade, hitting a low of 1.8 million in 2010, then recovering to 2.5 million in 2015.
In 2000, America was the least chosen place for Vietnamese to study abroad, with just around 1.5 million, less than half the number in France. However, the number of those opting for America increased continuously, surpassing the figure for France at 2.2 million in 2006 and Russia at 2.5 million in 2008, making the US the most favourable study-abroad destination with 5 million in 2015