Band 6+: The bar chart below shows the percentage of New Zealander men and women who did regular physical activity in 2008 across different age groups. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The given bar chart compares the figures of physically active men and women divided by age groups in New Zealand.

Overall, the percentage of women was always higher than men’s across all ages, except the age group 14 to 23. In addition, it is clear that half of the population of New Zealand regularly did physical exercise in 2010.

In 2010, the percentage of men who engaged in regular physical activity between the ages of 14 and 23 was about 52%, while the women’s figure was approximately 47%. However, the pattern of the illustration changes significantly in other age groups, as it can be clearly seen in the age group 24 to 33, where the percentage of females was higher than males by 6%.

Regarding the groups over the age of 33, in the age group 34 to 43, a significant difference in the percentages between men and women can be witnessed; while the figure of males reached its lowest percentage, at 38.8%, the figure of women increased to 53.1%. Then, about 54.2% of females between the ages of 44 and 53 are physically active, the highest number in the bar chart. By contrast, in the age group 64 and above, the figures for men and women were almost the same, 47.2% and 48.1%, respectively.