Band 8+: WRITING TASK 1 You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. The two line graphs below show New Zealand import figures from Australia and Japan in the years 1994 - 2004. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. You should write at least 150 words.

The two line graphs illustrate the value of imports to New Zealand from Japan and Australia between 1994 and 2004, measured in NZ$ million.

Overall, imports from Australia demonstrated a consistent upward trend despite some fluctuations, whereas imports from Japan initially increased but experienced a pronounced decline after 2000. Throughout the period, Australia remained New Zealand’s larger trading partner in terms of imports.

In 1994, New Zealand imported approximately NZ$3,000 million worth of goods from Japan. This figure rose steadily, peaking at nearly NZ$6,000 million in 1997. However, imports then declined to around NZ$4,500 million in 1999 before temporarily rebounding to their previous peak in 2000. Following this, there was a sharp and continuous drop, with imports falling below NZ$2,500 million by 2004.

Conversely, imports from Australia started at a higher value of around NZ$4,000 million in 1994 and increased steadily, surpassing NZ$6,000 million by 1996. After some fluctuations, imports dipped slightly in 2001 but rebounded sharply from 2002 onwards, reaching a peak of NZ$8,000 million in 2004.

In summary, while both countries’ import trends exhibited fluctuations, Australia’s exports to New Zealand followed a predominantly upward trajectory, whereas Japan’s imports declined significantly after 2000.