Rumor: Number of referrals per month is dropping

Since the rumor front is totally dead right now (the peace and quiet is actually nice, isn't it?), I thought I'd try to get some more historical data. So here's the referral tracking spreadsheet with a new column. Yeehaw! The new column shows the average number of referrals agencies received each time. (Click on image for larger version.)

This data was compiled by taking the numbers from a few of the big agencies and averaging it all out.

I wanted to get my hot little hands on this data to check out the rumor that says China is processing the same number of referrals as they've always been but there are so many more applicants that those referrals are spread out over fewer and fewer LID dates. I think this data does show the number of referrals per month has actually dropped. So that rumor seems to be false. (Hey I feel like one of those guys on that cool tv show called Myth Busters!)

I'd love to add data from one more of the Biggies, so if you have data for an agency that gets (or used to get) around 40 to 70 referrals a month, and you're willing to send it to me each month, please give a shout. (You can email me by clicking "Email M3" in the sidebar over on the right.) All data will be kept strictly anonymous, and the names of the agencies will never be mentioned.