From the article:

> That practice, according to the agency, is in large part responsible for inflating demand for the visas to a record high this year, with 781,000 entries into the lottery for 85,000 visa slots.

> About 350,000 applicants for H-1B visas submitted one entry into the lottery this year, compared with about 307,000 last year.

> Some 96,000 people submitted multiple visa entries, for a total of about 408,000 entries.

> About 478,000 people competed for visas last year, a record at the time.

So, 350,000 (single entry submission applicants) + 96,000 (multiple entry submission applicants) = 446,000 unique applicants compared to 478,000 unique applicants last year.

That's 6.7% fewer unique applicants.