Band 9: The bar chart below shows shares of expenditures for five major categories in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan in the year 2009.

The given bar chart illustrates the share of spending in five major categories in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan in 2009.

Overall, it can be seen that the largest proportion went to housing in all countries, except for Japan. Moreover, all four countries allocated less money to healthcare and clothing.

Focusing on the largest categories first, spending on housing was the highest in the USA at 25%, while Canada had the lowest figure in this category at approximately 21%, with the UK and Japan having figures of 24% and 22% respectively. Regarding food, Japan spent the most at 23%, followed by the UK with a statistic of 21%. The USA, at the same time, had the lowest figure at just 14%.

Turning to the remaining categories, Canadian people spent exactly 20% on transportation, which was twice as much as the figure for Japan, which was standing at 10%. In terms of healthcare, the USA spent around 8%, significantly outspending the UK, which expended only 3% on this category. Finally, spending on clothing remained the lowest and relatively similar in all countries, at between 4% and 6%.