Band 9: The graph below shows the percentage of Australian export to four countries from 1990 to 2012. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The line graph illustrates the proportion of goods exported from Australia to four different countries (Japan, the US, China, and India) over a period of 22 years, between 1990 and 2012.

Overall, although the Japanese share of exports from Australia was initially the highest, that of China experienced a pronounced increase and overtook the figures for other countries by the end, becoming the highest. Additionally, while percentages of Australian exports to Japan and the US declined gradually over the timeline, the figure for India demonstrated a growth.

As for the figure for Japan, it constituted the highest share of Australian exports, before rising modestly to a peak of 26% in the following year. However, by 2012 the figure for Japan had fallen by a third to about 18%, hence/thus/thereby ranking second by the end. Regarding the US, it came second with a considerably lower share, accounting for 12% in 1990, which made up almost half that of Japan in the same year.Notwithstanding a recovery to the initial level of 12% in 1999 after a slight drop to nearly 7% in 1995, the figure for the US continued to show a negative trend, eventually halving to about 6% in 2012. Despite some slight fluctuations over the following decade, it eventually returned to its initial level of 12% in around 1999, after which it dropped to roughly 6%, thus being half its original share.

Concerning China and India, in 1990 they accounted for the lowest shares of Australian exports, at nearly 3% and 2%, respectively. By 2003 ,the figures had demonstrated a moderate growth, with that for the former tripling to approximately 9%, whereas that for the latter reaching about 5% of exports. From then onwards, Chinese share experienced a threefold increase to around 27% in 2012, surpassing those of the US and Japan, thus recording the highest share of Australian exports. The figure for India, meanwhile, continued to show an upward trend, thereby overtaking that for the US and peaking at 8% in 2009. However, over the following three years it saw a decline to the previous 5%, hence narrowing the gap with that for the US to one-tenth of its initial size and returning to the lowest position.