Pick out the main features of this bar chart for your overview, write your report on a 20-minute timer, then compare it with a band-8 model answer.
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The chart below shows the percentage of the workforce in three sectors in one country in 1980, 2000 and 2020.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
| Category | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 22% | 9% | 3% |
| Manufacturing | 38% | 29% | 17% |
| Services | 40% | 62% | 80% |
GoPrep wrote this practice question in the style of the exam. It is not an official IELTS question.
An overview names the main trends or differences in one or two sentences, without numbers. These are the features a strong answer picks out:
Spend the first few minutes planning, then write.
0 words of 150 minimum
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Write your own answer first, then compare: how it answers the exact question, what each paragraph does, and which phrases you could borrow.
The bar chart shows the percentage of the workforce employed in agriculture, manufacturing and services in one country in 1980, 2000 and 2020.
Overall, the workforce shifted dramatically from agriculture and manufacturing towards services. Services employed the largest share in all three years, and by 2020 they accounted for the great majority of workers.
In 1980 the three sectors were more evenly balanced. Services accounted for 40% of workers, only slightly more than manufacturing at 38%, while 22% worked in agriculture. By 2000 services had grown to 62%, and manufacturing had fallen to 29%. Agriculture declined to 9%, less than half its 1980 level.
This trend continued into 2020. The service sector employed 80% of the workforce, double its 1980 share. Manufacturing continued to shrink, to 17% in 2020, which was less than half of the 1980 figure. Agriculture fell again, to a mere 3%, so that it was by far the smallest sector, with fewer than one worker in thirty compared with more than one in five in 1980.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| workforce | all the workers |
| shift towards | move in the direction of |
| double | become twice as high |
| dominant | largest and most important |
| shrink | become smaller |
| decline steadily | fall over time |
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