📈 The pesky "it" in IELTS writing task 1 📉

The thing about "it" is it has to refer to a noun. For example: "I checked an essay. It (= essay) was good." Using this tiny little word seems to be simple, yet it's a source of many mistakes. Here are some examples (and fixes).

1️⃣ "In Sweden the emissions stood at roughly 9 tonnes at the beginning of the period. After rising to just over 10 tonnes in 1977, it dropped to around 5 tonnes in 2007."

We have no noun for "it" in the second sentence.

Fix 1: "In Sweden, the amount of emissions stood at roughly 9 tonnes at the beginning of the period. After rising to just over 10 tonnes in 1977, it dropped to around 5 tonnes in 2007."
Fix 2: "In Sweden, the emissions stood at roughly 9 tonnes at the beginning of the period. After rising to just over 10 tonnes in 1977, the amount dropped to around 5 tonnes in 2007."

2️⃣ "People ate as much as 210 grams of beef per week at the beginning of the period. After decreasing sharply to about 170 grams in 1980, it rose to nearly 240 grams. It was followed by a sharp decline to about 100 grams per person per week in 2004."

We have two "it" here.

[1] Again, there is no noun for this "it."

Fix 1: "After decreasing sharply to about 170 grams in 1980, the amount of consumed beef rose to nearly 240 grams."
Fix 2: "After decreasing sharply to about 170 grams in 1980, the consumption rose to nearly 240 grams."

[2] Same problem - no noun. But the root of the problem might be different. The writer must have confused "it" and "this." If we want to refer to the whole clause, "it rose to nearly 240 grams," we need "this."

Fix 1: "... it rose to nearly 240 grams. This was followed by a sharp decline..."
Fix 2: "... it rose to nearly 240 grams. The rise was followed by a sharp decline..."

To sum up, make sure your "it" refers to a specific noun in the previous sentence.