The bar chart below shows the percentage of government spending on roads and transport in 4 countries in the years 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005.
Summarise the information and Write at least 150 words.
Sample Answer 1
The bar chart illustrates the proportion of expenditure by governments of Italy, Portugal, the UK and the USA on road and transport. The study compared the figures recorded between 1990 and 2005 with 5-year intervals.
On the whole, the proportion of government spending on road and transport generally declined in each country surveyed but the USA. It is also noticeable that the shares of money spent for this purpose by Italy and Portugal were significantly higher throughout the span than those of the other two countries.
The USA, in 1990, spent approximately 12% of its total expenses on road and transport, which was 2% higher than the UK figure in the same year. Despite falling slightly by around 2% in 1995, the USA’s spending had risen noticeably to 15% by the final year.
Interestingly, the European countries in the research all followed a downward trend. Portugal, being the biggest spender in 1990 and 1995, decreased the proportion of the funds it channeled from around 27% to a fifth over the period. Similarly, Italy and the UK’s proportional investment in road and transport experienced a drop during the time frame from about 23% to just under a fifth and from a tenth to about 7%, respectively, though each showed a rise in expenditure in 2000.
Sample Answer 2
The given bar chart shows the proportion of government expenditure on road and transport in four countries (Italy, Portugal, UK, USA) every five years between 1990 and 2005.
Overall, it can be seen that governments in mainland Europe spent far more money on roads and transport than those in the UK and USA. It is also clear that the UK spent the least amount of money on roads and transport in all measured years.
In 1990, Portugal spent the most amount of money on roads and transport at approximately 27%, followed by Italy at about 22%, while the USA and UK both spent only around 10% of their government budget. In 1995 however, all countries reduced their road and transport spending by between 1-3%.
By 2000 while Portugal continued to reduce its road and transport spending down to around 22%, Italy had increased its spending to approximately 23%, overtaking Portugal as the leading spender on transport infrastructure in 2000. The UK and USA had both increased spending in 2000 by about 3%. In 2005, all countries except USA further reduced their spending with Portugal, Italy, UK and the USA at 20%, 19%, 8% and 15% respectively.
(196 words by Zim)
