Trends in international adoptions by US citizens and residents are frequently reported but what about the wider world view?

I've been reading about adoption in other countries - what it's like for someone, say, in Norway, to adopt. Do you know that the waiting time can be around 3 to 4 years? That the investigative process (their version of homestudy) can last a year or more? And Norway isn't the only country with much more rigorous and lengthy assessment and adoption processes.

Globally, there are about a half million international adoptees. In the 1980s, annual worldwide international adoptions numbered around 18,000 - and today that has increased to over 40,000.. counting all countries. Given that in the US, international adoptions this past year were over 22,000, we're obviously the biggest receiving country, but according to Dr. Peter Selman (who has compiled extensive US statistics), the countries with the highest numbers of adoptions per capita are Norway, Sweden, and Spain. And while China and Russia are countries from which the greatest number of children are adopted, when you consider the per capita numbers, Bulgaria and Belarus top the list of sending countries.