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Consumer Spending on Different Items in Five Countries - Task 1 Table

Updated: Sep 28, 2024

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.


The table below gives information on consumer spending on different items in five countries in 2002.


Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.


Write at least 150 words


Task 1 Table Chart Band 9 Sample - The table gives information on consumer spending on different items in five countries in 2002.

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Model Answer 1

The table demonstrates the statistics disbursed by clients in five countries namely Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Turkey in 2002. The data is collected on 3 sectors; beverages and tobacco, textile and education/leisure.


Overall, all the countries spent their highest on food/tobacco and the least on leisure/education. However, consumers in Turkey experienced the highest spending on both food/drinks/tobacco and leisure/education, though that of Italy was maximum on clothing/footwear.


As for the beverage and tobacco sector, followed by Ireland, Turkey occupied the leading position with 32.14% of its total consumer spending, while the people in Sweden and Italy preferred these items about a half of Turkey. However, on these items, Spain used moderate 18.80 percent of its national consumer spending.


On the other hand, with 9% of total national consumer expenditure, Italy was the leader on spending for clothing/footwear, where Sweden spent the least, only 5.40%. However, apart from Italy, all the other countries’ spending on clothing/footwear were dispersed within the range of about 1.25 percentage point. Meanwhile, with only 1.98% of national consumer expenditure, leisure/education was the least preferred in Spain, while Italy and Sweden spent roughly the same amount, 3.20% and 3.22%, respectively, for these items.


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Model Answer 2

The table offers insights into consumer spending patterns across various categories in five distinct European nations during 2002.


An overarching trend observed from the data is the significant expenditure on food, drink, and tobacco compared to other categories, particularly in Turkey and Ireland. Conversely, leisure and education received the lowest allocation, with only minor exceptions.


Focusing on the specifics, Turkey's consumers allocated a substantial 32.14% of their expenditures to food, drink, and tobacco, outstripping other nations. Ireland followed closely, dedicating nearly 29% of spending to the same category. In terms of education and leisure, Turkey again led the pack, with over 4% of consumer spending, while Spain appeared more conservative in this respect, attributing less than 2%.


Turning to clothing and footwear, Italian consumers were most fashion-conscious, spending 9% of their budget on this category. In contrast, the Swedish were more frugal, with a modest 5.4% allocation. The expenditure on clothing in the remaining countries hovered around the 6% mark, with only slight variations.


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Model Answer 3

The table delineates consumer spending patterns across a range of items in five distinct countries during the year 2002, providing a snapshot of expenditure preferences.


At a glance, the overview of the data reveals a pronounced propensity for higher spending on food, drink, and tobacco in comparison to clothing, footwear, and leisure or educational pursuits across all surveyed nations. Notably, Turkey leads with the most substantial proportion of spending in the food and tobacco category, while leisure and education see markedly lower financial dedication, with no country exceeding a 5% expenditure threshold.


Delving deeper, Turkish consumers notably allocate a significant 32.14% of their budget to food, drink, and tobacco, dwarfing the percentages observed in other countries for this category. Ireland follows with a substantial 28.91%, suggesting a similar trend in spending preferences. Conversely, Italy, Spain, and Sweden exhibit more moderate figures, hovering around the mid-teens, with Italy at 16.36%, Spain at 18.80%, and Sweden at 15.77%.


Clothing and footwear expenses maintain a relatively tighter range across the board, with Italy at the forefront, dedicating 9% of consumer spending to this segment. The remaining countries show lesser inclination towards clothing and footwear, with percentages ranging from 5.40% in Sweden to 6.63% in Turkey. Leisure and educational spending is notably more conservative, with Turkey once again on the higher end at 4.35% and Spain at the lower end with 1.98%, reinforcing the trend of consumer spending on different items in five different countries being skewed towards essentials rather than discretionary or developmental items.



Model Answer 4

The table delineates consumer spending patterns on various items across five distinct countries during the year 2002. Presented percentages reveal the share of expenditure in categories such as food, drink, tobacco, clothing, footwear, leisure, and education.


Notably, a commonality among these nations is the predilection for allocating a larger portion of funds to food, drink, and tobacco, in comparison to the other listed categories. It is apparent that these consumables constitute the primary expenditure, overshadowing spending on clothing, footwear, and leisure activities combined.


Focusing on individual categories, Turkey emerges as the highest spender on both food, drink, and tobacco, with an expenditure of 32.14%, and on leisure and education, claiming 4.35% of its consumer spending. The lowest spending on leisure and education is attributed to Spain, at a modest 1.98%. Conversely, in Italy, consumers are seen to invest the most in clothing and footwear, accounting for 9.00% of their expenditures, significantly higher than in Sweden, which registers the lowest spending in both this category and the food-related group, with figures standing at 5.40% and 15.77% respectively. Moreover, Ireland, while not leading in any specific category, shows substantial spending on food, drink, and tobacco, with a significant 28.91%.



Model Answer 5

The table delineates the percentages of consumer spending on varied commodities such as food, drink, tobacco, clothing, footwear, and leisure activities, including education, across five nations in the year 2002. It offers a comparative glance at the spending habits in Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey.


An immediate observation reveals that expenditure on food, drink, and tobacco commands a significant portion of consumer budgets in all listed countries, consistently surpassing the 15% mark. Conversely, the allocation towards leisure and education remains modest, with figures not exceeding 5%.


The granular details present an intriguing pattern: Ireland and Turkey's consumer spending on food, drink, and tobacco hovers around the 30% threshold, approximately quintupling the amounts spent on clothing and footwear. This contrast is stark when compared to Spain and Sweden, where spending on food is merely triple that of clothing. Italy stands out with the gap between these categories being the narrowest, where the expenditure on food, drink, and tobacco is just over one and a half times that of clothing and footwear.


Further scrutiny of the data reveals the spending on leisure and education to be consistently lower, with a notable pattern in Ireland, Italy, and Spain where this category's expenditure is a third of that spent on clothing and footwear. Sweden and Turkey deviate from this trend, with the difference between the two categories being less pronounced. This nuanced understanding of consumer spending on different items in five different countries underscores the diverse economic behaviors characteristic of each nation.


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