The figures give information about economic growth and household expenditure across a range of categories. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant.

The line graph shows economic
growth
over a 15-year period ending 2010. The pie charts give a breakdown of household spending in four separate years over the same period. Viewed together, there appears to be a relationship between economic
growth
and patterns of spending. According to the graph, economic
growth
began at a modest 1
percent
Change the spelling
per cent
show examples
, rose modestly,
then
remained more or less steady at about 2
percent
Change the spelling
per cent
show examples
until 2003. It grew sharply and peaked at nearly 5
percent
Change the spelling
per cent
show examples
in 2005,
then
fell dramatically to -5
percent
Change the spelling
per cent
show examples
in 2008, before recovering to 1
percent
Change the spelling
per cent
show examples
in 2010. Over the same period, changes in patterns of spending were evident. In periods of low or negative
growth
, spending on housing and food accounted for a larger proportion of total household expenditure than in times of relative prosperity.
Conversely
, in times of economic
growth
, spending on less essential items
such
as travel, entertainment and clothing tended to increase.
This
is particularly evident in the chart for 2005 where together these three items appear to account for over 15
percent
Change the spelling
per cent
show examples
of total spending. In summary, the figures show that in times of hardship, households spend a greater proportion of their income on necessities whereas, in times of prosperity, more is spent on non-essentials
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