Band 9: TASK 1: The table below gives information related to population growth, average birth per women, life expectancy at birth in countries with different income levels in 2000 and 2004.

The table compares population growth, average birth rates and life expectancy at birth in high-, middle- and low-income countries in 2002 and 2004.

Overall, low-income countries recorded the highest population growth and birth rates, whereas high-income countries had the lowest figures for both. In contrast, life expectancy was considerably higher in high-income countries than in the other two groups. Over the period, most changes were relatively small.

In high-income countries, population growth decreased slightly from 0.8% in 2002 to 0.7% in 2004, while the average number of births per woman remained unchanged at 1.7. Life expectancy, however, rose marginally from 78.0 to 78.7 years.

Middle-income countries experienced stable population growth at 0.9% in both years. Their birth rate fell slightly, from 2.2 to 2.1 births per woman, while life expectancy increased from 69.1 to 70.0 years.

The most noticeable figures were seen in low-income countries. Although their population growth declined from 2.0% to 1.8%, it was still more than twice the rate recorded in high-income countries in 2004. The average number of births per woman also fell, from 3.9 to 3.7. Meanwhile, life expectancy increased slightly from 58.1 to 58.8 years, remaining substantially lower than in the other income groups.