Talking about figures, charts and financial information is part of everyday professional life. Whether you are presenting sales results, explaining market trends or discussing a company’s balance sheet, knowing the right Spanish vocabulary can make a big difference.
For international professionals, it is not enough to understand the numbers. You also need to know how to describe changes, compare figures and explain what a chart shows clearly and naturally. In this article, we will look at some of the most useful Spanish expressions for talking about charts, data and balance sheets, together with a grammar point and practical vocabulary you can use at work.
How to describe charts and trends in Spanish
When presenting a chart in Spanish, there are several very common verbs and expressions that can help you introduce and explain the information.
Useful expressions for presenting a chart
You can start with simple expressions such as:
- El gráfico muestra… — The chart shows…
- El gráfico representa… — The chart represents…
- El gráfico refleja… — The chart reflects…
- Como podemos ver en el gráfico… — As we can see in the chart…
- Según los datos… — According to the data…
- Los datos indican que… — The data indicate that…
For example:
El gráfico muestra la evolución de las ventas durante los últimos cinco años.
The chart shows the evolution of sales over the last five years.
Or:
Como podemos ver en el gráfico, las ventas aumentaron considerablemente en 2025.
As we can see in the chart, sales increased considerably in 2025.
These expressions are particularly useful when giving presentations or discussing results in meetings.
Talking about increases, decreases and stability
Spanish offers several ways to describe changes in figures.
For an increase, you can use:
- aumentar — to increase
- incrementarse — to increase
- crecer — to grow
- subir — to rise
For example:
Las ventas aumentaron un 15 %.
Sales increased by 15%.
For a decrease:
- disminuir — to decrease
- reducirse — to decrease
- bajar — to fall
- descender — to decline
For example:
Los costes disminuyeron un 8 % respecto al año anterior.
Costs decreased by 8% compared with the previous year.
And when there is little or no change:
Los resultados se mantuvieron estables.
Results remained stable.
La cifra se mantuvo prácticamente sin cambios.
The figure remained practically unchanged.
Grammar: how to talk about changes and percentages
One useful grammar point when discussing business data is the difference between de, a and en when describing changes.
From one figure to another: de… a…
Use de… a… when you want to explain the starting point and the final figure.
Las ventas pasaron de 2 a 3 millones de euros.
Sales went from €2 million to €3 million.
El número de empleados aumentó de 120 a 150.
The number of employees increased from 120 to 150.
Expressing the amount of change: aumentar en…
Use en to indicate the amount by which something changes.
Las ventas aumentaron en un 15 %.
Sales increased by 15%.
You will also hear:
Las ventas aumentaron un 15 %.
Both forms are common. In professional communication, being able to recognise both structures is more important than trying to translate them literally from English.
Expressing percentages naturally
When talking about percentages, remember that Spanish uses por ciento or the symbol %.
El beneficio aumentó un 12 %.
El 35 % de nuestros clientes procede de mercados internacionales.
For presentations, it is also useful to combine percentages with expressions such as:
- aproximadamente — approximately
- más de — more than
- menos de — less than
- casi — almost
- alrededor de — around
For example:
Aproximadamente el 40 % de nuestras ventas corresponde al mercado europeo.
Useful Spanish vocabulary for charts and balance sheets
If you work with financial or commercial information, these words are worth adding to your professional Spanish vocabulary.
Charts and data
- el gráfico — chart / graph
- los datos — data
- la cifra — figure
- el porcentaje — percentage
- la tendencia — trend
- la evolución — development / evolution
- el aumento — increase
- la disminución — decrease
- el crecimiento — growth
- la caída — fall / decline
Financial information
- el balance — balance sheet
- los ingresos — revenue / income
- los gastos — expenses
- los costes — costs
- los beneficios — profits
- las pérdidas — losses
- los activos — assets
- los pasivos — liabilities
- el patrimonio neto — equity
- la facturación — turnover / revenue
A particularly useful distinction is between ingresos, beneficios and facturación. They are not interchangeable.
For example:
La facturación de la empresa aumentó un 10 %, pero los beneficios disminuyeron.
The company’s turnover increased by 10%, but its profits decreased.
This is the kind of distinction that can prevent misunderstandings in a business meeting.
From understanding the numbers to explaining them
Knowing vocabulary is only the first step. In a professional situation, you need to connect the figures and explain what they mean.
For example:
El gráfico muestra una tendencia positiva durante el primer semestre. Las ventas aumentaron un 12 %, principalmente debido al crecimiento de las ventas internacionales. Sin embargo, los costes también aumentaron, por lo que el beneficio final fue inferior al previsto.
This type of language is useful in presentations, management meetings, sales reviews and financial discussions.
A useful structure for professional presentations
When presenting data in Spanish, you can follow a simple structure:
1. Introduce the information
Este gráfico muestra…
2. Highlight the main trend
La principal tendencia que podemos observar es…
3. Give specific figures
Las ventas pasaron de… a…
4. Explain the reason or consequence
Esto se debe principalmente a…
5. Make a conclusion
En conjunto, los resultados muestran que…
This structure helps you sound organised and confident, even when you are discussing complex figures.
Conclusion
Being able to talk about charts and balance sheets in Spanish is an important part of professional Spanish communication. You need more than financial vocabulary: you also need the structures to describe trends, compare figures and explain what the numbers mean.
Expressions such as el gráfico muestra, las ventas aumentaron, pasar de… a… and los resultados se mantuvieron estables can help you communicate data clearly and naturally.
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