The bar charts below delineate how the commodities and food consumed in supermarkets varied across three different European countries in a period of one decade from 1998 to 2008.
Overall, the proportion of food and freight of all three examined countries increased, but to varying extents. Country 1 and Country 2 consistently dominated the charts, whereas Country 3 recorded the lowest figures in both categories throughout the period. Notably, while country 2 was consistently the leading food and goods consumption in 1998, it was overtaken by country 1 in 2008.
In terms of food consumption, all three countries saw upward trends. Among the three countries examined, country 1 stood out for its remarkable surge, which skyrocketed from over 10% in 1998 to around 40% in 2008. Country 2 also adopted a somewhat similar trend, albeit to a lesser extent, starting at around 25% to 30% in the same period. Similarly, there was a slight increase from about 5% to around 10% in the figure for country 3 at the end of the period.
The trends in commodity consumption almost exactly mirrored this pattern. The years between 1998 and 2008 witnessed a significant increase from 10% to 40% in country 1. There was also an increase in country 2, from 25% to 30% at the end of the period. Followed by country 3, at a mild rate from around 5% in 1998 to 8% in 2008.