Academic Task 1 model answer: Household spending, 2004 and 2024
The question
The pie charts below show how the average household budget in one country was divided between six categories of spending in 2004 and 2024. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
| Category | 2004 (%) | 2024 (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Housing | 24 | 33 |
| Food and drink | 22 | 15 |
| Transport | 16 | 14 |
| Leisure | 11 | 13 |
| Clothing | 9 | 5 |
| Other | 18 | 20 |
Model answer
The pie charts illustrate how the average household budget in one country was allocated across six categories of spending in 2004 and 2024.
Overall, housing, which was already the largest category in 2004, absorbed a considerably greater share of household budgets by 2024, while the proportions spent on food and clothing contracted noticeably. The remaining categories changed only marginally.
In 2004, housing and food and drink took up similar shares, at 24% and 22% respectively. Twenty years later, however, housing accounted for a third of all spending (33%), whereas the share devoted to food and drink had fallen to 15%. Clothing followed the same downward pattern, almost halving from 9% to 5%.
The other three categories were more stable. Transport dipped slightly from 16% to 14%, while leisure edged up from 11% to 13%, narrowing the gap between the two. Miscellaneous spending, labelled 'other', also rose by two percentage points, from 18% to 20%. As a result, by 2024 it had become the second largest category after housing, overtaking food and drink, which had held that position twenty years earlier.
Why it works
Task Achievement
The overview identifies the main shift (housing up, food and clothing down), and the body notes a less obvious consequence: the change in which category ranks second.
Coherence & Cohesion
Big changes are grouped together and stable categories together, so the two charts are compared category by category rather than described separately.
Lexical Resource
Proportion language suited to pie charts — 'allocated across', 'absorbed a greater share', 'took up', 'accounted for a third'.
Grammatical Range & Accuracy
Non-defining relative clauses, past perfect for 'by 2024… had become', and correct use of 'percentage points' versus per cent.
Written by Stride as a study model against the public IELTS band descriptors. It has not been marked by an IELTS examiner.