The bar chart illustrates the proportion of the international production output from different locations – Asia, Europe, and the rest of the world – from 1840 to 2000.
Overall, although the percentage of Asia’s production fluctuated throughout the period, it comprised the highest percentage points in 2000. Europe’s share increased steadily and reached its peak in 1960, before witnessing a notable decline. Similarly, the figure for the rest of the world experienced a negligible increase, before dropping by the end of the period.
Turning to Asia’s production first, at the outset, the percentage of Asia’s production was the highest at 50% and this figure dropped to just 20% over the course of 80 years. In contrast, it experienced a substantial increase to 45% in 2000.
In 1840, the proportion of Europe’s production was 40%, which was 30 percentage points higher than that of the rest of the world. After that, the share of production in both places (Europe and the rest of the world) experienced upward trends in 1880, the figures standing at 45% and 25%, respectively. Subsequently, Europe’s share peaked at 50% in 1920, while the figure for the rest of the world stood at 30%. However, Europe’s production decreased to approximately 38% in 1960, and made up the same percentage points as other continents. By 2000, both Europe’s production percentage and that of the rest of the world had decreased, from 38 to roughly 27% and from 38 to about 32%.