Describing a bar chart
Do the preparation task first. Then read the text and tips and do the exercises.
Preparation
The chart shows the sales revenue of a selection of home video entertainment formats in the USA in 2017. It also shows the percentage change from the previous year.
Online video streaming was the most popular format in 2017. US consumers spent $9.8 billion on services such as Netflix, which was a rise of 32 per cent from the previous year. For the average American, this accounted for nearly half of their spending on video entertainment at home.
At the same time, customers were moving away from the three physical formats in the chart. DVD and Blu-ray sales dropped by 14 per cent over the twelve-month period to $4.5 billion in 2017, and rent-by-post revenues went down by 20 per cent to $0.5 billion. DVD rental shops saw the largest decline, as spending fell by 21 per cent to just $0.4 billion.
Overall, there was a clear downward trend in spending on physical video formats, as they all showed relatively low sales and they were all in decline. However, there was an upward trend in paying for streaming.
Please note: This page was designed for writing practice only. Information in the chart may not be accurate.
Tips
- In the first paragraph, give basic details about the chart including what it shows, where it refers to and when.
- When you describe chart data, be specific. Mention the category and figure, e.g. Online video streaming was the most popular format in 2017. US consumers spent $9.8 billion ...
- A trend is a change over time. To describe trends, focus on what is increasing or decreasing compared to some time in the past, e.g. ... which was a rise of 32 per cent from the previous year.
- If several categories show the same trend, talk about them together, e.g. customers were moving away from the three physical formats in the chart.
- State the units of measurement, e.g. US consumers spent $9.8 billion.
- Many of the verbs for up and down trends can also be used as nouns, e.g. Spending fell by 21 per cent = There was a 21 per cent fall in spending. (You can write % or per cent, but be consistent.)
- Write a conclusion. Say what we learn from the data overall.
The bar showes the revenue of sales for different types of home video entertainment in the USA in 2017. The bar also showes the percentage fall and rise from last year.
The sales of streaming services, like Netflix, went up by 32 percent from 2016. The sale of streaming services stands for about the half part of the sales of home video entertainment in total. DVD and Blu-ray sales and rentals went down with between 14 to 21 percent, and stands for a sale of 0,5 billion for the rental options, and 4,5 billion for DVD and Blu-ray sales.
Overall the rental and sales options for DVD and Blu-Ray went significantly down, while the trend for streaming services seems to be that they steadily increases.
I'm from Latin America, so there are a lot of social classes which make it difficult to think of a country's general trend. I would say that vapes are a new trend, everyone has one. In my context, there is a trend in gym products, such as supplements, equipment, sports clothes, etc.
The chart shows how many hours were spent on social media per week by students in 2020. It also presents the data for different age groups.
Students aged 13–18 spent the most time on social media, with around 20 hours per week. This is the highest figure among all groups, which means about 3 hours per day, or roughly 12.5% of their whole day, was spent scrolling and wasting time.
The second group, students aged 19–25, spent about 15 hours per week, which is almost 2 hours per day. This represents around 8.3% of their daily time on the phone. Finally, students aged 26–35 spent 8 hours per week, which is about 1 hour and 15 minutes per day, or almost 5% of their daily time.
In conclusion, we notice that younger students waste more time on social media compared to older students. This suggests that as people grow up, they tend to manage their time and control their lives more effectively.
In my country, spends a lot of food, increase in delivery or shopping around of this year
People in my country spent more on durable goods in the last year because of the greatly increased inflation and spent less on entertainment and air flights.
In the last 10 years I’ve noticed an increase in spending on delivery services of food and online
shoppings, people here as well as in lot’s of counries nowadays are spending a lot of money
purchasing a lot of things online, like food, clothes and a lot of other services wich produced a growth
in the use of devivery services to get those things at their homes.
Thanks for the lesson.
Great site!
In Italy I think that many people spend more on food in recent years
The chart shows that people's tastes are clearly changing. Online video streaming is very popular among people. Many people communicate and see their close friends and relatives through the Internet. I’ve noticed people sitting alone in the restaurant, but they are doing an online stream where they’re talking lots of different strangers. In my opinion people have many follower in social networks but they don’t have real friends in real life. I don’t know what changes will be in the future but I want everything to be good.
I notice that people in my country love try something new. We have trend with cafe or restaurant,so when new cafe open people go because everyone want describe own position about this.
As Argentina is experiencing a significant increase in inflation rates in recent years, I see how consumers are drastically changing their spending behavior, moving from high-cost and leisure goods to short-term goods and services to satisfy their basic needs. such as food, electricity, mobility, health and education. However, as the value of the peso falls every day, there are people who decide to spend it as soon as possible on long-lasting goods such as cars or on small pleasures such as a meal at a restaurant. In the end, all of us who have experienced other inflationary processes in recent decades know that unfortunately the most likely thing is that the next step for our economy will be a severe crisis that will lead to spending and consumption falling practically to zero.