WRITING TASK 1: PIE CHART

Choose the most important points to write about first

Make it easy to read
When you write a task 1, you should always group information in a logical way to make it
easy to follow and read.

With an IELTS pie chart, the most logical thing to do is usually to compare categories
together across the charts, focusing on similarities and differences, rather than writing about
each chart separately.

Vary your language

As with any task 1, this is important. You should not keep repeating the same structures. The
key language when you write about pie charts is proportions and percentages.

Common phrases to see are "the proportion of…" or "the percentage of…"

However, you can also use other words and fractions. These are some examples from the
model answer:

A large number of people A significant number of

over a quarter of people people
a small minority less than a fifth
Percentage Fraction
Percentage Fraction
80% four-fifths
40% two-fifths
75% three-quarters
35% more than a third
70% seven in ten
30% less than a third
65% two-thirds
25% a quarter
60% three-fifths
20% a fifth
55% more than half
15% less than a fifth
50% half
10% one in ten
45% more than two fifths
5% one in twenty

If the percentages are not exact as above, then you can use qualifiers to make sure your
description remains accurate. Here are some examples:

Percentage Qualifier
77% just over three quarters
77% approximately three quarters
49% just under a half
49% nearly a half
32% almost a third
sector X was 3%
sector X made up 3%
sector X accounted for 3%
sector X comprised 3% of [the whole chart]
 proportion / number / amount /
Percentage
majority / minority
75% - 85% a very large majority
65% - 75% a significant proportion
10% - 15% a minority
5% a very small number

The words above are interchangeable, though number is for countable nouns and amount is
for uncountable nouns.

Percentages:
10% increase, 25 percent decrease, increased by 15%, dropped by 10 per cent, fall at 50%,
reached to 75%, tripled, doubled, one-fourth, three-quarters, half, double fold, treble, 5 times
higher, 3 timers lower, declined to about 49%, stood exactly at 43%.
Fractions:
4% = A tiny fraction.
24% = Almost a quarter.
25% Exactly a quarter.
26% = Roughly one quarter.
32% Nearly one-third, nearly a third.
49% = Around a half, just under a half.
50% Exactly a half.
51% = Just over a half.
73% = Nearly three quarters.
77% = Approximately three quarter, more than three-quarter.
79% = Well over three quarters.
Proportions:
2% = A tiny portion, a very small proportion.
4% = An insignificant minority, an insignificant proportion.
16% = A small minority, a small portion.
70% = A large proportion.
72% = A significant majority, A significant proportion.89% = A very large proportion.
89% = A very large proportion.
The two pie charts compare the percentages of online sales across different retail sectors in
Canada in the years 2005 and 2010. For three of the sectors, it is evident that over this time
frame there was significant change in their proportion of online transactions.

At 35% we can see that electronics and appliance sector accounted for the majority of online
sales in 2005, but this percentage had dropped to 30% by 2010. During the same five-year
period, as an increasing number of people chose to purchase food and beverage online, we
can see that transactions went from just 22% to 32%, making it the retail sector with the
largest overall proportion of the online market.

In 2005, the home furnishing industry boasted an impressive 25% of the total online sales in
Canada. However, by 2010, the figure had fallen considerably to 15%. Interestingly, online
sales of video games eventually overtook sales of home furnishings, although video games
still represented only 23% of the market.

The two graphs show the main sources of energy in the USA in the 1980s and the 1990s.

Write a report for a university lecturer describing the changes which occurred.

The two graphs show that oil was the major energy source in the USA in both 1980 and 1990
and that coal, natural gas and hydroelectric power remained in much the same proportions.
On the other hand, there was a dramatic rise in nuclear power, which doubled its percentage
over the ten years.

Oil supplied the largest percentage of energy, although the percentage decreased from 42% in
1980 to 33% in 1990. Coal in 1990 was the second largest source of energy, increasing its
proportion to 27% from 22% in the previous decade. Natural gas, the second largest source in
1980 at 26%, decreased its share very slightly to provide 25% of America’s energy ten years
later. There was no change in the percentage supplied by hydroelectric power which remained
at 5% of the total energy used. Nuclear power the greatest change: in 1990 it was 10%, twice
that of the 1980s.

(152 words)
 The two pie charts below show the percentages of industry sectors' contribution to
the economy of Turkey in 2000 and 2016.

Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make
comparisons where relevant.

The two………………………illustrate how different industry sectors contributed to the

economy of Turkey percentage wise in the years 2000 and 2016.

….……………, at the beginning of the period construction contributed the least to the
economy of Turkey and agriculture was the most significant economic sector.
In………………., at the end of the period healthcare and education became the largest
economic segment and the lowest contribution was made by financial, business and other
services.
Construction sector accounted for 3% of Turkey's economy in 2000, and experienced a more
than ………………….increase to one-tenth in 2016. Economic income from trade, utilities
and transportation was 14% in 2000 and experienced a slight ………….of 2% in 2016. At the
beginning of the period, manufacturing and finance, business and other services made up 8%
and 5% of Turkey's economy, respectively, and these figures rose to 12% and 8% in 2016.

Agriculture, which……………….almost a quarter of Turkey's economy in 2000, fell to 14%

in 2016. In 2000 economic outputs from government and leisure and hospitality sectors were
at 12% and 17%,………………, and both decreased by 3% after 16-year period. In contrast,
contribution from healthcare and education sector remained…………….in both years at 17%.