IELTS graph 269 - Expenditures for five major categories in 2009


» You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.



You should write at least 150 words.

Shares of expenditure for selected categories, United States, Canada,

United Kingdom, and Japan, 2009

Expenditure in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan - 2009

Sample Answer:
The bar graph compares how much Americans, Canadians, English and Japanese spent on food, housing, transportation, health care and clothing in 2009. Generally speaking, housing and food cost more to these nationalities than other expenses in this year.

As is given in the column graph, Japanese spent around 23% money on food and this ratio was higher than that of other nationalities. UK residents’ spending on food was one-fifth of their total expenditure while it was less than 15% for the citizens of the USA and Canada. Housing on an average drained the highest percentages of money and it was more expensive in the United States as more than one-fourth of their money went on arranging accommodation. All other nationalities had to spend between 20% – 24% for housing.     

Transportation cost, on the other hand, was highest in Canada and one-fifth of spending by Canadians were for commuting. Japanese people spent the least on commuting and it was 10% or their expenses. Interestingly, these nationalities spent around 5% money on clothing which was slightly higher than that of their medical expenses. Us citizens had to spend the highest on health care which accounted for around 7% of their cost while it was the lowest in the UK.


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