Band 9: The given pie charts compare the expenses in 7 different categories in 1966 and 1996 by American Citizens. Write a report for a university lecturer describing the information below. You should write at least 150 words. You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The pie charts illustrate the comparison of expenditure by American nationals across seven categories: food, cars, furniture, books, restaurants, and computers, expressed in percentage terms for the years 1966 and 1996.

Overall, in 1966, the largest proportion of American spending was on food, while the least significant expenditure was on computers. In contrast, by 1996, spending on cars had become the largest segment, and the lowest expenditure was on books.

Expenditure on cars, which accounted for 23% in 1966, rose significantly to 45% by 1996. The proportions of spending on petrol (10%), restaurants (7%), and computers (1%) in 1966 also experienced notable growth, increasing to 9%, 14%, and 10% respectively by 1996.

On the other hand, spending on food, furniture, and books decreased during this period. In 1966, food expenditure was 44%, but this reduced by 30 percentage points to 14% in 1996. Likewise, spending on furniture, which started at 10% in 1966, dropped slightly to 8% in 1996. Finally, American expenditure on books decreased from 6% in 1966 to just 1% in 1996.