The given pie charts illustrate the proportions of a bookseller’s sales accounted for by five different genres in 1972, 1992 and 2012.
Overall, fiction became increasingly popular over the period, particularly adult fiction, which emerged as the largest category by 2012. By contrast, the proportions of biography and other genres generally declined.
In 1972, other genres represented the largest proportion of book sales, at 25%. Meanwhile, biography, adult fiction and children’s fiction each accounted for an equal share of 20%. Travel books made up the remaining 15%. By 1992, adult fiction had become the leading category at 25%, followed by children’s fiction at 22%. In contrast, the figures for biography and other genres fell to 15% and 20%, respectively, while travel books increased slightly to 18%.
By 2012, adult fiction had risen dramatically to 45%, making it by far the most popular genre. Similarly, children’s fiction increased to 25%. However, the remaining categories accounted for relatively small proportions, with other genres, travel and biography representing 12%, 10% and 8%, respectively.