The chart below shows the number of adults participating in different major sports in one area, in 1997 and 2017. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The graph illustrates the

number

of

participants

in various popular

sports

in one region over a period of 20 years, from 1997 to 2017.

Overall

,

while

the

number

of

participants

increased across most

sports

, two notable exceptions were cricket and swimming, which either declined or remained stable. In 1997, the

number

of people participating in swimming remained consistent over the two decades, with no change from 10,000

participants

in both 1997 and 2017.

Conversely

, cricket experienced a dramatic decrease, dropping from 15,000

participants

in 1997 to just 3,000 in 2017, representing a fivefold reduction. Basketball saw the most significant growth in

this

period. The

number

of

participants

nearly doubled, rising from 9,000 in 1997 to 22,000 by 2017. Golf and tennis experienced marginal increases, with the former rising by just 500

participants

(from 6,000 to 6,500) and the latter seeing a slightly more substantial increase of 4,000 (from 8,000 to 12,000). Football and rugby followed a similar upward trend, with the

number

of

participants

increasing from approximately 32,000 in 1997 to around 49,000 in 2017 for both

sports

, making them among the most popular in the region throughout the period. In conclusion,

while

the majority of

sports

saw a steady increase in participation over the two decades, cricket and swimming were outliers, with the former experiencing a sharp decline and the latter remaining unchanged.