The line graph illustrates the changes in shop closures and closings in a particular country between 2011 and 2018, with figures expressed in thousands.
Overall, the data indicate significant shifts over the nine-year period, with shop closures declining sharply in the middle of the period and openings increasing significantly at the beginning, before felling gradually towards the end of the period.
In 2011, shop closures stood at around 6,400 thousand and increased gradually to over 7,000 in 2013. Despite of the small growth, this figure experienced a dramatic drop to less than 1,000 in 2015, before a sharp increase to more than 5,000 in 2016. After that, shop closures experienced a stable trend by the end of the period.
In contrast, shop openings started with higher numbers than closures at approximately 8,500 thousand in 2011, whereas this figure dropped sharply to roughly 4,000 by 2012. Subsequently, shop openings increased gradually to 6,000 in the middle of the period, followed by a significant decrease to 4,000 in 2015. Meanwhile, shop openings remained relatively stable by 2017, before felling to 3,000 at the conclusion of the period.