You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

The graph below gives information about Dubai gold sales in 2002.

Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

Write at least 150 words.

The diagram illustrates how gold sales in Dubai changed from January to December 2002.

Overall, the figure fluctuated widely before returning to its original level at the end of the year. Besides, gold sales were at their highest in March, while the weakest figures could be observed in July and September.

In the first month of 2002, the figure stood at 200 million dirhams and rose slightly to reach about 225 million in February. This was followed by another increase, although much steeper, in March when sales hit 350 million. However, this upward trend was suddenly broken and sales declined dramatically over the next 4 months to reach a little over 100 million in July. August sales saw a significant rise back to January levels as the figure nearly doubled, but it dropped again in September to the same level as it was in July. There was a small increase of about 100 million dirhams in October, after which the figure levelled off and remained relatively unchanged over the last two months of 2002.

(174 words)