India’s GDP
Writing Task
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.
The bar chart below shows the contribution of different sectors to India’s GDP from 1960 to 2000.
Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Sample Answer
The bar chart illustrates the contribution of three main sectors—agriculture, industry, and services—to India’s GDP over a forty-year period from 1960 to 2000. Each sector exhibits a distinct trajectory in its share of economic output, reflecting the country's broader developmental shift.
Looking from an overall perspective, it is readily apparent that services emerged as the dominant contributor, significantly surpassing agriculture, which witnessed a marked decline. The industrial sector displayed a more moderate pattern, gradually increasing and eventually overtaking agriculture by the end of the period.
In 1960, agriculture accounted for approximately 63% of GDP, far exceeding both industry and services, each of which contributed about 18%. Over the following two decades, agriculture fell steadily to 45% by 1980, while industry and services both climbed, reaching close to 30%.
After 1980, the share of agriculture continued to decline, finishing at 25% in 2000. Industry plateaued, maintaining a level around 23%, whereas the services sector saw dramatic growth, more than doubling to 63%, thus occupying the same share agriculture had at the beginning of the period.