Difference between seasonal and cyclical trends (visually)

[kddee]

Can anyone tell me the difference?

[Planck's constant]

Can anyone tell me the difference?

Both cyclical and seasonal have 'peak-and-trough' patterns.
The difference is that in seasonal trends the period between succesive peaks (or troughs) is constant (eg soft drink sales will show a spike EVERY summer and a trough EVERY winter).
But in cyclical trends the distance between successive peaks is irregular (eg 5 years of economic growth, followed by 2 years of economic recession, followed be 7 years of economic growth followed by 1 year of economic recession etc)

[ILiekMudkipz]

Basicly, they both go up and down, but seasonal trends have the same time span between each peak, whereas cyclic trends just go up and down randomly.

[99.96]

The key difference is that seasonal trends, as the name implies, will show specific patterns periodically.
Eg, Consumer spending may show a peak around Christmas time every year making it a seasonal trend.
But for things like the share price of apple, it may peak whenever apple realise a new product and decrease a while after its release, making it cyclic because there is no fixed period between peaks and troughs.

Pm me if you still don't get it