The bar chart provides information on the number of applicants getting into one particular European university from four parts of the world over five consecutive years, starting from 2004. Overall, China and Japan always showed relatively higher proportions, with increasing and decreasing, respectively. It is also clear that Russia ranked the lowest position, while the U.S. remained third with a slight increase.
Turning to details, the East Asian countries, China and Japan, demonstrated comparatively higher figures, albeit with contrasting trends. China was the leading country with about 27,000 students applying, after which it declined progressively except for the years 2006 and 2007, when it remained stable. By 2008, it ended up with 15,000 students applying to the European university. Meanwhile, Japan also mirrored China in reverse change. Starting from around 13,000, it experienced a constant growth to 27,000, taking the lead eventually.
Markedly similar figures were observed in the USA and Russia. The former fluctuated at just over 5,000, but it rose to exactly 10,000 over the rest of the period. Russia, on the other hand, had the lowest and the least changes compared to the other three countries from 2004 to 2008. It only fluctuated between 2,500 and 3,000.