The Tables Below Give Information About Sales
Written by Lilie
7.5 in Academic Writing
April 17, 2021
The tables below give information about sales of Fairtrade*-labelled coffee and bananas in 1999 and 2004 in five European countries.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
This essay question is from Cambridge IELTS 10 Test 2 Writing Task 1.
Sales of Fairtrade-labelled coffee and bananas (1999 & 2004)
Sample Essay
The tables display how much Fairtrade-labelled coffee and bananas were bought in 1999 and 2004 in 5 countries of Europe.
Overall, while sales of bananas increased in Switzerland, the UK and Belgium and decreased in Sweden and Denmark, coffee sales showed a climb in all 5 countries.
In both years, people in Switzerland bought far more bananas than people in the other four countries, with sales rising significantly from 15 to 47 million euros. Banana sales in the UK and Belgium also went up, to 5.5 and 4 million euros respectively, whereas sales in Sweden and Denmark showed a decline, to 1 and 0.9 million euros respectively.
Only 1.5 million euros’ worth of coffee was bought in the UK in 1999; however, sales in this country increased dramatically to 20 million euros in 2004, which was the highest across the 5 countries that year. Although people in Switzerland were the biggest coffee buyers in 1999 with 3 million euros of sales, this figure showed a relatively small growth to 6 million euros in 2004. People in Denmark, Belgium and Sweden also bought more coffee in 2004, but the increases were slight, to 2, 1.7 and 1 million euros respectively. (203 Words)
How to Select Data
In the first chart, the UK had the biggest figure of the five countries in 2004, and Switzerland had the biggest figure in 1999. That is to say, these two countries are more important than the other three countries. So, I included their data in both years. For the remaining 3 countries, I only included their data in 2004.
The same method can be used to select data in the second chart. Switzerland had the biggest figures in both years. These two biggest figures must be included in our essay. For the remaining four countries, you can only mention their figures in 2004.
33 CommentsLeave A Comment
Hi, Lilie,
why do we need to write the figures of bananas in the third paragraph first? The table of coffee is above the bananas, so if I write the essay I will use the coffee first, is there any problems? Thank you for reply.
wang,
It doesn’t matter which table you describe first.
thank you so much!
The tables compared data about sales of fairtrade labels between coffee and bananas across five European countries in the years 1999 and 2004. Can I write this introduction?
Hi Lilie,
it’s ok if i write “1.5 million euros coffee was bought in the UK.” without “worth”.
thank you
Very clear explanation how to choose the data. Big shoutout for your idea👏🙏❤
If we write like this
In 1999, all the countries purchased Coffee almost of the same worth. is this correct?
Hi Lilie, last time I asked you a question and you asked me about notifications. Sorry for the late reply, but yes I do receive your notification. Tomorrow I am going to have the IELTS test and your essays are really helping me. I can’t thank you enough.
Thanks for letting me know about the notification. Best luck with exam and don’t forget to come back and share your score here.✊
What is the overall band score for this writing
Hi, all the essays on this site have been improved by native speakers. I think they deserve at least an 8.
Hello can I use the word “income” and “revenue”?
Hi Ninetna, don’t use them. They don’t mean the same as “sales”.
Hi Lillie, Can I use “accounted for” to express euros? Thank you.
Hi, thanks for your question. Can you show me an example?
For instance, banana sales in Switzerland accounted for 15 million euros in 1999.
No, because to account for means to form the total of something. For example, you could say that banana sales in Switzerland accounted for 15 million euros of total banana sales in the world. But, of course, this isn’t the case for this report. I was just giving an example.
Is this tables meat that bananas and coffee sale or bought? And if I want to write differently how I should write with amount or number?
Hi, thanks for your comments. Both “sales” and “bought” are correct. However, “amount” and “number” are wrong. The tables show sales of bananas, not the number or amount of bananas.
Dear Lilie, now that ‘buy’ is recommended to be used, how about ‘purchase’? Could I say, ‘purchases of bananas in Switzerland rose dramatically from 15 to 47 million euros, ranking the first of sales in both years’? Thanks for your reply. ❤
Hi, thanks for your comments. In your sentence, the best word choice is “sales”: sales of bananas in Switzerland rose dramatically. “Sales” and “purchases” are not the same. You can google “sales vs purchases”. Hope this helps.
Hi, can I use the demanded or consumption instead of bought?
Hi, no.
In introduction you wrote coffee and bananas were bought. But in question they told about sales. Why is it please?
Hi, thanks for your question.
Sales of bananas in Switzerland means what Swiss people bought. So “buy/bought” is the most accurate verb to use here.
With that said, since there are sales, there must be buyers and sellers; the buyers buy and the sellers sell, and since these are two sides of the same transaction, their values are the same, and I think you are entirely justified using the verb “sell” to describe the data.
Hope this helps.
Can I use price in stead of worth?
Hi, thanks for your question. Of course you can’t simply replace “worth” with “price”. How are you going to use “price”? Can you provide a complete sentence?
Can I use the verb ‘sell’ and ‘sold’ instead of ‘buy’?
Hi, thanks for your question. Sales of bananas in Switzerland means what Swiss people bought. So “buy/bought” is the most accurate verb to use here.
With that said, since there are sales, there must be buyers and sellers; the buyers buy and the sellers sell, and since these are two sides of the same transaction, their values are the same, and I think you are entirely justified using the verb “sell” to describe the data.
It’s weird though the title says sales figures whereas the note at the bottom indicates these countries bought rather than sold (passive voice in farmers have been paid). So are these countries sellers or buyers?
This is really a great question. The text at the bottom of the tables is just explaining what fairtrade-labeled coffee and bananas are. It doesn’t mean that the tables are about the value of coffee and bananas these five countries bought from developing countries. This is because, for developing countries’ sales of bananas to Switzerland, ‘to’ would be used. However, in the title, “In” is used: “sales of bananas IN five European countries”. It means what people in these five countries bought.
Since there are sales, there must be buyers and sellers; the buyers buy and the sellers sell, and since these are two sides of the same transaction, their values are the same, and I think you are entirely justified using the verbs “buy” and “sell” to describe the data. Just be careful not to use “sell” in the active voice. For example, don’t say Switzerland sold 3 million Euros’ worth of Fairtrade coffee. It may be read as Switzerland’s sales of coffee to other countries. Use the passive voice instead: 3 million Euros’ worth of Fairtrade coffee was sold in Switzerland. You can use the verb “buy” in either the passive or the active voice.
Hope this helps.
is it enough for band 7?
Sure.✊