The given pie charts illustrate the sales of five different kinds of books over 40 years, starting from 1972.
Overall, the proportion of adult and children’s fiction witnessed a consistent upward trend, whereas other categories tend to decrease over time. In addition, it is evident that the biggest change was seen in adult fiction.
In 1972, the figures of adult fiction, children’s fiction both started with the same proportion, at 20%. However, adult fiction experienced a significant growth by 25% over the period, becoming the best-selling book in the year of 2012, whereas children’s fiction steadily rose to 25% after 40 years. Meanwhile, the sale of travel books slightly increased by 3% in 1992 before sharply falling down to 10% two decades later.
Looking at other categories, the figures of biography and others shared a similar downward trend. The former slightly dropped to 15% in 1992 before nearly halving to 8% by the end of the period. Despite being the highest sector at the start of the period, with around 25%, other books’ sales witnessed a continuous downturn to 12% by the year of 2012.