Band 7+: The charts below show the proportion of people’s total spending on different commodities and services in a particular European country in 1998 and 2008. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

The bar charts detail how much proportion of European people’s overall expenditure on holidays, clothing, eating out, electronic goods, newspapers, and cinema between 1998 and 2008.

Overall, Europeans spent the largest amount of money on electronic goods in both years, whereas the opposite was true for newspapers and cinema. Although their expenditure on electronic goods and clothing increased, they spent less money on other things in the second year. Of particular note is eating out, which remained unchanged.

In 1998, the citizens spent the most money on electronic products, with 16%, and followed by clothing, with 12%. On holidays, they spent 8% of their budget, eating out accounted for 6%. On newspapers and cinema, Europeans spent the least, with the same amount of money, at 3%.

With regards to 2008, electronic goods remained popular, and spending on them increased to 20%. Compared to the previous year, they spent more money on clothes, with 18%. Figures for eating out stayed unchanged with 6%. However, the population spent significantly less money on holidays (5%), newspapers (1%), and cinema (1%) in 2008.