Describing Pie Charts

Comparing Trends
 Are these Statements True or
False?

1. When describing a chart or graph, start by immediately giving

figures and numbers.
2. When you report data from the chart, there's no need to give
more details about what it refers to.
3. You should describe every single figure in the charts
separately.
4. It's a good idea to repeat useful phrases (e.g. 'The first chart
shows …') many times.
5. When there are two charts, we should try to compare and
contrast the data, rather than talk about each one separately.
6. We can use 'however', 'in contrast', 'but', 'while' or 'instead' to
show similarities.
 How to Start your
Description?

The two pie charts below show the percentages

of industry sectors' contribution to the
economy of Turkey in 2000 and 2016.

 Study these pie charts,

 Read the information presented by the
different segments,
 notice the changes, the main features you need
to describe and compare
1st Paragraph

The two pie charts illustrate how different

industry sectors contributed to the economy
of Turkey in the years 2000 and 2016.

These pie charts demonstrate the

percentage of contribution of various industry
sectors to the economy of Turkey in the
period of 2000 and 2016.
 The Structure of a Pie chart Description

1. Introduction
– What does your chart show?
– For what Period of time?

2. General overview
– The biggest and smallest slices of each pie chart

3. Specific features
The General Overview
What are the biggest and smallest slices of each pie chart?
2nd Paragraph

Overall, at the beginning of the period,

construction contributed the least to the
economy of Turkey and agriculture was the
most significant economic sector.
In comparison, 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.
Some Useful words to describe pie charts:

 Overall
 To compare
 Compared to,
 In comparison to,
 As opposed to,
 In contrast,
 Versus
 More than
 The majority of
 Only a small monitory
 Greater than
 Less than, The least
 The two pie charts illustrate how different industry sectors
contributed to the economy of Turkey in the years 2000 and 2016.
Overall, at the beginning of the period, construction contributed
the least to the economy of Turkey and agriculture was the most
significant economic sector. In comparison, 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 threefold increase to one-tenth
in 2016. Economic income from trade, utilities and transportation
was 14% in 2000 and experienced a slight growth 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 comprised 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%, respectively, and both decreased by 3% after 16-year
period. In contrast, contribution from healthcare and education
sector remained constant in both years at 17%.
 The Structure of a Pie chart Description

1. Introduction
– What does your chart show?
– For what Period of time?

2. General overview
– The biggest and smallest slices of each pie chart

3. Specific features
– Sectors that had an increase
– Sectors that had a decrease or didn't change
 Changing Percentages to
Fractions
Percentage Fraction
80% four-fifths
75% three-quarters
70% seven in ten
65% two-thirds
60% three-fifths
55% more than half
50% half
45% more than two fifths
40% two-fifths
35% more than a third
30% less than a third
25% a quarter
20% a fifth
15% less than a fifth
10% one in ten/ tenth
5% one in twenty
 Using Qualifiers

Percentage Qualifier

77% Just over three quarters

77% Approximately three quarters

49% Just under a half

49% Nearly a half

32% Almost a third

 Using other Phrases

Percentage Proportion / Number / amount / majority / minority

75% - 85% a very large/ majority

65% - 75% a significant proportion
10% - 15% a minority
5% a very small number
Some useful Expressions
Some Useful expressions to describe pie charts:

 It is clear that X represents the largest portion, whereas

Z is undoubtedly the smallest.
 A small fraction/
 a large sector,
 Exactly, 30% of students have a diploma in economics.
 About 20%
 Over one-fifth
 Precisely four-fifths, 80%
 Almost a quater, 24%
 One half, 50%
3rd Paragraph

Construction sector accounted for 3% of Turkey's economy in

2000, and experienced a more than threefold increase to one-
tenth in 2016. Economic income from trade, utilities and
transportation was 14% in 2000 and experienced a slight growth 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 comprised 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%, respectively, and both decreased by 3% after 16-year
period. In contrast, contribution from healthcare and education
sector remained constant in both years at 17%.
Some Useful words to describe pie charts:

 Account for
 Comprise
 Make up
 Constitute
Comprehension and
Writing Assignments
 Over to You!

Assignment N°01:

 Draw the appropriate type of visual that

corresponds to the following written text.
 Read the text and draw the
chart
The given pie charts show the amount of revenue and expenditures in
2016 for a children’s charity in the USA. Overall, it can be seen that donated
food accounted for the majority of the income, while program services made
up the highest expenses. Total revenue sources just exceeded outgoings.
In detail, donated food provided most of the revenue for the charity, at
86.6%. Similarly, with regard to expenditures, one category, program
services, accounted for nearly all of the outgoings, at 95.8%.
The other categories were much smaller. Community contributions,
which were the second largest revenue source, brought in 10.4% of overall
income, and this was followed by program revenue, at 2.2%. Investment
income, government grants, and other income were very small sources of
revenue, accounting for only 0.8% combined, i.e., 0.2%, 0.2% and 0.4%
respectively.
There were only two other expenditure items, fund raising and general
management, accounting for 2.6% and 1.6% respectively. The total amount
of income was $53,561,580, which was just enough to cover the
expenditures of $53,224,896.
 Over to You!

Assignment N°02:

 Write a composition of no less than 150 words

in which you Summarize the information in
the following chart by selecting and reporting
the main features.
 Make comparisons where relevant.
This pie chart represents how internet
users aged 16+ prefer to browse the web