Question –
WRITING TASK 1
You should spend 20 minutes on this task.
The table below gives information about consumer spending on different items in five different countries, in 2002.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Answer –
The table illustrates the proportion of national expenditure in Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Turkey on three types of consumer items in 2002.
Overall, food, drinks and tobacco was the category which had by far the highest percentages in all countries, while the figures for leisure and education presented the lowest proportions throughout. Despite Italy topping the chart in clothing and footwear expenditure, Turkey led in the other two categories.
In terms of food, beverages and tobacco, Turkish consumers expended the most on these items, at around a third of their total spending, followed by the Irish at 28.91%. The figures for Sweden, Italy and Spain accounted for between 15.77% and 18.18%. Regarding leisure and education, Turkey again ranked first with around 4.5%, while people in Ireland and Spain spent roughly half of that in this regard. Sweden and Italy invested 3.22% and 3.20%, respectively.
As for clothing and footwear, Italians spent most on this category, which made up precisely 9% of their total outlay, roughly double that of Swedes. The expenditure on clothes and footwear in the remaining three countries averaged around 6.5%.