Band 9: You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. The graph below shows the average growth in domestic products in wealthy countries, countries that have adopted a global approach to business and countries that have not. Write a a report for a university lecturer describing the information below. Write at least 150 words.

The bar chart compares the average annual GDP growth in wealthy countries, developing countries that adopted a global approach to business, and those that did not, over four decades from the 1960s to the 1990s.

In the earlier decades, wealthy nations consistently recorded the highest growth rates, averaging close to 5% in the 1960s and maintaining figures above 3% in the 1970s. During the same period, both groups of developing countries experienced slower growth, rarely exceeding 3%.

From the 1980s onwards, however, the pattern shifted. Developing nations that embraced globalisation showed steady improvement, rising above 3% in the 1980s and reaching nearly 5% in the 1990s, which was the highest figure across all groups and periods. By contrast, wealthy countries experienced a gradual decline, falling to around 2% by the 1990s. Non-globalisers performed the worst overall, with growth rates decreasing steadily to below 1% in the final decade.

Overall, while wealthy countries dominated growth in the earlier years, globalising developing nations later outpaced them significantly. Non-globalisers consistently underperformed, widening the gap with globalisers as time progressed.