Band 8+: The pie charts below show the average household expenditures in Japan and Malaysia in the year 2010. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The pie charts compare the average spending of people in Japan and Malaysia in the year 2010 on different essential needs.

Overall, food was the second highest category that people in both countries were spending money on, while transport and health care took the last two places, respectively.

In Malaysian households, 34% of the total expenditure was spent in housing, which is much higher than Japan, where only 21% was dedicated to housing. Regarding transportation, people in Japan spent 20% on transportation, while people in Malaysia spent half the percentage, which is 10%. The percentages of the total money paid for food were nearly the same for both countries, accounting for 24% in Japan and 27% in Malaysia.

In terms of healthcare, despite that people in both countries exhibit a very low percentage of their money on it, Japan has double the percentage of 6%, while Malaysia just has 3% spent on healthcare. Meanwhile, citizens in Japan and Malaysia spent 29% and 26%, respectively, on other goods and services than the previously mentioned ones.