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Syllabus
🏦 SBI PO
Subject:Preliminary Examination Syllabus

Data Interpretation (Tables, Line/Bar Graphs)

Syllabus Unit: Quantitative Aptitude

Why it matters

Chapter overview

SBI PO Prelims almost always opens the Quant section with one or two Data Interpretation sets worth 15-20 marks, because DI tests the exact skill the exam is built around: pulling the right number out of a mass of data and computing on it fast. This topic covers every format the exam uses — tables, line graphs, bar charts, pie charts, and paragraph-based caselets — and the core calculation types (percentage, ratio, average, difference) that repeat across all of them.

Preliminary Examination Syllabus Quantitative Aptitude 35% weightage
Live Animation1 / 4
Identify row & column meaning
Check units in the footnote
Locate the exact cell(s) needed
Apply the right formula

1Tabular Data Interpretation

A DI table hides 4-5 questions in a single grid — the skill is locating the right cell fast, not the arithmetic itself.

Learning Objectives

  • Identify what each row and column of a table represents before attempting any calculation.
  • Compute percentage change, ratio, and average across table entries without a calculator.
  • Spot when a question requires summing across a row versus down a column.
  • Use footnote units (₹ lakh, ₹ crore, in '000s) correctly to avoid a 100x or 1000x error.

Key Terms

Base ValueThe reference figure a percentage or ratio is calculated against — in 'increase from X to Y', the base is X, the earlier figure.
Row-wise TotalSum of all column values for a single entity (one row) — used for 'total for Company A across all years' style questions.
Column-wise TotalSum of one parameter's values down every entity — used for 'combined sales of all companies in 2022' style questions.
Percentage Change((New Value − Old Value) / Old Value) × 100; the sign of the result shows increase or decrease.

A tabular DI question is a grid of entities (years, companies, products, branches) against parameters (sales, cost, marks, headcount). The exam sets 4-5 questions per table, and every one of them can be answered from the grid alone — the difficulty is entirely in reading the right cell and applying the right formula, not in the arithmetic.

Read the table before you calculate

  • Note what each row stands for and what each column stands for — mixing these up is the single most common tabular DI error.
  • Check the header or footnote for units: '₹ in lakh', '₹ in crore', or 'number of students in 000s' change every final answer by a factor of 100 or 1000.
  • Scan for a 'Total' row or column already given — it saves a manual sum.
  • Underline the two exact cells the question needs before doing any arithmetic.

The four calculations tested

  • Percentage change — ((New − Old) / Old) × 100, always divide by the OLD/base value, never the new one.
  • Ratio — simplify to lowest terms; SBI PO answer options are almost always single-digit ratios like 3:2 or 5:4.
  • Average — sum of values ÷ number of values; watch for 'average of 3 out of 5 years' subsets that exclude some data.
  • Difference/aggregate — straightforward addition or subtraction across rows or columns; the easiest calculation but also the easiest to rush and misread.
% Change = ((New − Old) / Old) × 100
Common MistakeTrap: 'increase in 2023 over 2021' uses 2021 as the base, not 2023 — dividing by the wrong year is the #1 tabular DI mistake.
Exam TipWhen a question says 'approximately', round each number to the nearest 10 or 100 before dividing — the answer options are spaced far enough apart that extra precision rarely matters.