Band 6+: You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. Write at least 150 words. The chart below shows the number of adults participating in different major sports in one area, in 1997 and 2017. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The bar chart compares how many adults took part in 7 different major sports in a region in 1997 and 2017.

Overall, the amount of adults joining in major sports increased throughout the years. In contrast, cricket was the only sport that experienced a decline, while swimming remained unchanged.

Tennis increased from 50 to 55 thousand, but despite this relatively small growth, it was still the most played sport in the area in both years. Rugby and Football both surged a considerable amount from just above 30 thousand to approximately under 50 thousand, making them the second and third most participated sport in 2017 respectively.

Basketball was the least played sport with just under 10 thousand grown up players in 1997, however, it increased to around 22 thousand in 2017 while cricket dropped from 27 thousand to only 8 thousand, causing it to become the least popular. In both years, swimming was done by 35 thousand adults, and golf didn’t shift much either, only increasing very slightly at just above 30 thousand.