Band 7+: The chart below shows figures for attendances at hospital emergency care departments in Northern Ireland by age group in December 2016 and December 2017. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

The chart compares the number of attendances at accident and emergency department (A&E) in Northern Ireland by different ages in December 2016 and December 2017. Overall, the number of attendances from all ages increased, especially those under 5 and those aged 75 and over have the largest rates across the entire chart. Notably, the number of attendances from aged between 5 and 15 remained low for the whole period, despite a slight increase in December 2017.

In the first year, the number of applicants aged 75 and over was almost 65,000, a figure that then increased to approximately 70,000 by 2017. Similarly, under-5 attendances started at roughly 50,000 in December 2016 and reached around 56,000 by 2017. Those aged 5–15 had a much lower rate, growing gradually from 21,000 to end the period at 23,000.

In contrast, those aged 16–44, those aged 45–64, and those aged 65–74 had almost the same rate over the whole span, with 30,000 in 2016, followed by a slight increase to 32,000 in the final year.