The bar chart illustrates the proportion of government expenditure on roads and transport in Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom and America every 5 years between 1990 and 2005.
Overall, the percentages of government spending in all countries saw a downward trend. Notably, Portugal spent most on roads and transport every surveyed year, the reverse was true for the United Kingdom, except in 1995.
Looking first at Portugal and Italy, both countries showed similarities in government spending. The figure for the former started at the highest percentage, at around 27%, before decreasing considerably to 20% in 1995. The government spending in Italy followed a relatively similar pattern, experiencing a decline from 20% in 1990 to around 12% in 2000. However, while the percentage of Portugal’s spending on roads and transport continued to decline to above 15% in the final year, the figure for Italy rose slightly to around 15%, closing the gap between government spending of Italy and Portugal.
Turning to the United Kingdom and America, the figures for both countries started at much lower percentages, at 11% and 14% respectively. In 1995, the figure for the United Kingdom increased to a peak of 14%, before steadily falling to a negligible 6% in 2005, which was the second lowest across the chart. However, the percentages of government expenditure in America hovered around 14% the whole period.