Band 6+: WRITING TASK 1 You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. The bar chart below shows current health expenditure totals as percentages of GDP* for various European countries for the years 2002, 2007 and 2012. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. You should write at least 150 words. * GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is the total value of goods that are made and services that are provided in a country.

The graph illustrates the proportion of the Gross Domestic Product spent on healthcare costs for 12 distinct European countries, in years 2002, 2007 and 2012.

Overall, several countries have not increased or decreased the ratio of the GDP spent on the medicine sector over the years, and the changes were not substantial in the countries that displayed fluctuations. Switzerland was the nation with the highest percentage of the GDP expended on healthcare, and Estonia had the lowest.

In all years, Switzerland had the highest numbers, annually using around 11% of their GDP on healthcare and the number remained consistent. France was the only other country that reached the same level, spending 11% of their finances on medicine in 2007. However, the number was only approximately 10% in 2002, and it dropped to 9% in 2012.

Among all the countries in the study, Estonia had the lowest level of health expenditures in all three years, staying at roughly 3%. While the degree of healthcare costs demonstrated insignificant changes not exceeding 1% for 7 nations, France’s healthcare expenditure demonstrated a 2% decrease from 2007 to 2012.