Refer the below table and answer the question that follows. India’s exports in 2020 — Value in million US $ Electronics — 720 Cotton — 680 Jewellery — 500 Steel — 450 Software — 850 Jewellery was what percentage of the total exports? (Rounded to two decimal places)
- (a)14.63%
- (b)15.78%
- (c)15.63%
- (d)14.34%
Answer
Why
Correct — C. The denominator is the total of all five rows, not any part of the column.
720 + 680 = 1400
1400 + 500 = 1900
1900 + 450 = 2350
2350 + 850 = 3200 (million US$)
Jewellery share = 500 ⁄ 3200 = 5 ⁄ 32 = 0.15625
× 100 = 15.625%, and to two decimals that is 15.63% → option (c).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)14.63% — 14.63% of 3200 is 468, not the 500 the table prints against jewellery. It sits a whole percentage point below the true share.
- (b)15.78% — 15.78% would need a column total of 500 ⁄ 0.1578 ≈ 3169 — about 31 short of 3200, the size of slip a dropped digit in the addition produces.
- (d)14.34% — 14.34% corresponds to a total of 500 ⁄ 0.1434 ≈ 3487, which over-counts the column. All five listed rows, and only those, belong in the denominator.
Concept
A percentage-of-total question is two operations: add the whole column, then divide the one row by it.
The arithmetic is friendlier than it looks. The total is 3200, so 1% of the column is 32, and 500 ⁄ 3200 reduces to 5 ⁄ 32 — an exact decimal, 0.15625, with no recurring tail to worry about.
The rounding instruction then matters. 15.625 carries a 5 in the third decimal place, so rounding to two decimals takes it up to 15.63, not down to 15.62.
The table is the exam's own set of figures, labelled India's exports in 2020 in million US$. Use the numbers as given for the arithmetic; the card makes no claim that they match published trade statistics.
Key facts
- The five rows add to 3200 million US$, so 1% of the column is 32 million US$.
- 500 ÷ 3200 simplifies to 5/32, which is exactly 0.15625.
- 15.625% rounded to two decimal places is 15.63%.
- Percentage of total = part ÷ total × 100, with every listed row inside the total.
Study next
Common traps
- Dividing by a partial total, for instance forgetting the software row.
- Rounding 15.625 down to 15.62 instead of up to 15.63.
- Taking the share against the largest row, 850, rather than against the total.
A table of figures with a percentage-of-total question attached also runs at 17 Sep 2024, 12:30, Quant Q.8 and at 18 Sep 2024, 16:00, Quant Q.15, both asking what percentage of total expenditure the bonus head accounted for.
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