Describing Trends and Graphs in English: Vocabulary, Examples and Quiz

to go up in number, amount or level (past: rose, risen)

Prices rose by 4% last year.

to become bigger in number or amount (the noun is ⁄ˈɪnkriːs⁄)

The number of visitors increased steadily.

to become bigger, especially over a long time

The company grew quickly in its first five years.

to go up gradually, often to a high level

Unemployment climbed to 9% by the end of the year.

to rise (more informal than rise or increase)

Rents have gone up again.

to rise very quickly to a high level

House prices soared in the 2000s.

to rise extremely quickly and suddenly (informal)

Sales rocketed after the advert went viral.

to become twice as big

The number of users doubled in six months.

to go back up to a normal level after a fall

The market recovered in the second half of the year.

to go down in number, amount or level (past: fell, fallen)

Sales fell slightly in March.

to become smaller in number or amount (the noun is ⁄ˈdiːkriːs⁄)

The birth rate has decreased since 1990.

to become smaller or weaker, often slowly over time

Newspaper sales have declined for twenty years.

to fall, often suddenly

Temperatures dropped to minus five overnight.

to fall (more informal than fall or decrease)

Petrol prices have gone down this month.

to fall very quickly and by a large amount

Profits plummeted during the crisis.

to become half as big

The price of solar panels has halved.

to fall a little and usually only for a short time

Sales dipped in January but rose again in February.

to stay at the same level (also: stay the same, remain constant)

The figure remained stable at around 30%.

to stop rising or falling and stay at the same level

After a sharp rise, prices leveled off in May.

to stay at the same level after a period of growth

Membership plateaued at around 2,000.

to become steady after a period of change (British English: stabilise)

The exchange rate stabilized at the end of the year.

to go up and down many times

Oil prices fluctuated throughout the decade.

to reach the highest point before falling

Visitor numbers peaked in August at 12,000.

to reach the lowest point (also: reach a low, bottom out)

Sales hit a low of 200 units in February.

sudden and large (adverb: sharply)

There was a sharp fall in profits in 2020.

very large and fast (adverb: steeply)

The graph shows a steep rise in energy costs.

very large, sudden and surprising (adverb: dramatically)

Car sales saw a dramatic drop.

happening very quickly (adverb: rapidly)

The city has seen rapid growth.

large or important enough to notice (adverb: significantly)

There was a significant increase in online orders.

quite large (adverb: considerably)

Costs rose by a considerable amount.

happening at an even, regular speed (adverb: steadily)

The chart shows a steady rise over ten years.

happening slowly, over a long time (adverb: gradually)

There has been a gradual decline in smoking.

neither very large nor very small (adverb: moderately)

Wages saw a moderate increase.

very small (adverb: slightly)

There was a slight dip in June.

very small and not important (adverb: marginally)

The difference between the two years is marginal.

a picture that shows how numbers change, often with lines

The graph shows the population of the city since 1950.

a picture that shows information, such as a graph or a table

Look at the chart on page four.

a graph with lines that show change over time

The line graph compares sales in three shops.

a chart with bars of different lengths (American English also: bar graph)

The bar chart shows how people travel to work.

a circle divided into parts that show percentages

The pie chart shows how the budget is divided.

the line along the side or bottom of a graph (plural: axes)

Years are shown on the horizontal axis.

a general direction in which something is changing

The overall trend is upward.

a number, especially an official one

The figures for 2025 are much higher.

an amount shown as a part of 100

The percentage of people who cycle has risen.

a part of a whole, compared with the whole

A large proportion of students live at home.

close to an exact number, but not exactly

Approximately 40% of the budget goes on salaries.

a length of time

Prices doubled over the period shown.

in the same order as the things you have just mentioned

Sales in May and June were 300 and 450 respectively.

when you consider everything together

Overall, the number of tourists increased.

used to compare two facts that are different

Car use fell, whereas cycling rose sharply.