Describing Charts and Statistics

Plummet

To plummet is to drop suddenly.

The price was stable until midweek, then it plummeted.

A surge

A surge is a strong and sustained increase. It can be a verb or noun.

There was a surge in the number of visitors, starting in May.

The number of visitors surged.

Fluctuate

To fluctuate is to go up and down repeatedly. The noun is fluctuation.

The price of Bitcoin fluctuated all week.

There were fluctuations in the price.
Moderate growth

The word moderate means 'not too strong', so moderate growth is slight or medium growth.

The value of the commodity has shown moderate growth all year.

Surpass

The word surpass means to pass in value or overtake. We often use it to compare two items.

The value of BlueCorp shares surpassed the value of RedCorp shares around midyear.

Peak

A peak is a high point in a chart. It can be a verb or noun.

The number of new customers peaked on Wednesday.

The number of new customers reached a peak on Wednesday.

Significant growth

The word significant means 'strong or important', so significant growth is strong growth.

Our market share saw significant growth in the fourth quarter.

Recover

To recover is to go up again after previously falling. The noun is recovery.

The price of oil fell after the Saudi announcement, but it later recovered.
It made a strong recovery.
Stagnant

To be stagnant is to remain in the same (usually low) position without growing. The verb is stagnate.

The value of RedCorp remained stagnant, while the value of BlueCorp increased.

The price stagnated.

Stablize

To stabilize is to reach a steady position after a rise, fall or fluctuations. The spelling in British English
is stabilise and we often use the adjective stable.

Property prices fell sharply in the first three months, but then stabilized.
After a period of heavy losses, the price became stable.
Gradual decline

The word gradual means 'not too fast', so a gradual decline is a slow loss in value. The word decline (drop) can
be a verb or a noun.

There was a gradual decline in the cost of living throughout the five-year period.

Trend

The word trend means the general direction of a chart. We often talk of a positive trend or a negative trend.

There has been a positive trend in life expectancy over the past decade.
Keep pace with

To keep pace with means to match (in value).

Increases in wage growth kept pace with inflation throughout the year.

Collapse

To collapse means to drop to (nearly) zero.

The company's stock price collapsed after the CEO was convicted of fraud.

Outpace

To outpace means to increase at a faster rate (than something else).

Since the war, the South Korean economy (blue) has outpaced the economy of North Korea (red).

A sharp increase

We can use a sharp increase to describe a situation where a value increases by a large amount.

This chart shows a recent sharp increase in the number of refugees entering the country.

Spike

A spike is a sharp peak in a chart. Spike can also be used as a verb.

Our website saw a spike in traffic on the day the announcement was made.
Our website's traffic spiked on the day the announcement was made.
Rally

To rally is to increase again after being down. It is similar to recover Rally can also be used as a noun.

The price of gold dropped significantly in the morning, but it rallied in the afternoon.
The price of gold dropped significantly in the morning, but there was a rally in the afternoon.

Respectively

When we mention two items in a sentence, we can refer to them using the word respectively to show that we
are discussing them in the same order as mentioned. For example:

Apples and pears cost $5 per kilo and $6 per kilo respectively

This shows that we associate $5 with apples and $6 with pears, in the order they were mentioned.

Tumble

To tumble means to fall (usually by a large amount).

Markets tumbled across Europe as the EU announced further bad news.

Skyrocket

To skyrocket means to increase by an extraordinarily large amount.

 The price of one Bitcoin skyrocketed in 2017, from $1000 in January to nearly $20,000 in December.

make gains

To make gains means to go up (for a stock market).

Many markets in South America made gains yesterday.