You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The line graph below shows changes in the youth unemployment rate from 2000 to 2012.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Sample Answer
The line graph compares how unemployment rate among young people aged 15-24 changed over a 12-year period (2000-2012) in five European countries.
Overall, the rate of unemployment grew noticeably in all European countries with the exception of Germany. Of a particular note are Italy and Germany, where unemployment rates were highest and lowest respectively for the better part of the period.
In detail, youth unemployment underwent a drastic rise in Britain and Sweden. In 2000, the rate of unemployment stood at 10% in Britain, which had doubled by 2008. This figure grew to about 27% in 2009, but it had fallen to a quarter three years later. Similarly, Sweden also saw its youth unemployment rate climb. While initially the rate stood at just over a tenth, it had gone up twofold by the end of the period.
The figures for the other countries also changed, albeit to a varying degree. The proportion of unemployed youth was just under 30% in Italy in 2000, which dropped to a fifth in 2008. This was followed by an exponential rise, hitting an all-time high of nearly 36% in 2012. The unemployment rate among young people also went up in France, going from 20% in 2000 to 25% in 2012. Finally, despite some fluctuations, the rate of youth unemployment remained unchanged in Germany, at about 10%.
222 words,
