IELTS WRITING TASK 1

The line graph shows data on changes in birth rates in China and the US over an 80-year period starting in 1920.

Overall, the birth rates of both two countries saw a downward trend over the period of time. Obviously, the figure for the US was higher than that for China despite the similarity in terms of a general decline.

In the 1920-1935 period, there was a fluctuation in the birth rate of the USA although it was always higher than 10%. However, from 1935 to 1945, the American fertility rate experienced a plunge to below 5%. In the 1950s, the figure for the USA increased dramatically to exactly 15%. Throughout the remainder of the period, there was a steady decline in the US birth rate, which fell to 7% by 2000.

Over the same period, the Chinese fertility index fluctuated significantly. It declined to 5% from 1935 to 1940 before peaking at the highest point of the whole graph, 20% in 1950. However, after nearly 10 years, the birth rate in China dropped rapidly by under 10% and fell to approximately 2% in 2000.