IELTS Writing Task 1: Employment by Sector Table
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Writing Prompt
The table below shows the percentage of the workforce employed in four sectors of one country’s economy in 2000, 2010 and 2020. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
| Sector | 2000 | 2010 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 12 | 8 | 5 |
| Manufacturing | 30 | 24 | 18 |
| Services | 48 | 58 | 67 |
| Construction | 10 | 10 | 10 |
Write at least 150 words.
Show Band 8–9 model answer
The table compares the proportions of the workforce employed in four economic sectors in a particular country between 2000 and 2020.
Overall, employment shifted markedly away from agriculture and manufacturing towards services, while the share of workers in construction remained unchanged. By 2020, services had become overwhelmingly dominant.
In 2000, services already accounted for the largest share of employment, at 48%, followed by manufacturing at 30%. Agriculture and construction were much smaller employers, with 12% and 10% of the workforce respectively. Over the next decade, services expanded to 58%, an increase of 10 percentage points, whereas manufacturing’s share fell to 24%. Agricultural employment also declined notably, dropping to 8%, while construction held steady at 10%.
This pattern continued between 2010 and 2020. The proportion of workers in services climbed further to 67%, consolidating its leading position. Manufacturing shrank again, to 18%, and agriculture’s share almost halved over the period as a whole, reaching only 5% in 2020. In contrast, construction consistently employed exactly one-tenth of the labour force across all three years, indicating neither expansion nor contraction in relative terms.
Why this response works
This response provides a clear overview that highlights the major trend (a shift from agriculture and manufacturing to services, with stable construction). Key data from all three years and four sectors are accurately selected and compared, demonstrating strong task achievement. The information is logically organised, moving from overall trends to detailed figures by period. Cohesion is achieved through clear referencing and comparison language. Lexical resource is varied but precise (e.g. “consolidating its leading position”, “overwhelmingly dominant”), and grammatical structures are flexible and accurate, with a good mix of complex sentences and minimal error.
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