The bar chart compares the proportion of total revenue of a drug company in four continents from 2002 to 2006.
Overall, the largest share of sales came from European countries and Africa, whereas the reverse was true for South America. In addition, while the figures for Europe and Africa and North America exhibited downward trends, that for Asia experienced a gradual rise.
Focusing on the declining figures first, these were overall figure for European countries and Africa, as well as North America. Starting at 44% in 2002, the rate for European countries and Africa increased gradually by 4% in 2004, with 46% in 2003. After that, there was a significant drop to 44% in 2005, followed by a further decline to 40% the following year. As for North America, the figures experienced a gradual downward trend, declining from 33% to 28% between 2002 and 2003, then to 24% and eventually to 21%.
By contrast, South America and Asia witnessed different patterns. The tendency for South America was quite stable. The percentage stood at 11 at the beginning of the period, then fell insignificantly to 7% the next year. A minimal reduction from 7% to 6% was shown by the figure for South America, before returning to 11%. As for total sales in Asia, there was a modest increase from 12% to 28% over the period.