Key Word Corner
Development
A positive change that makes things better. As a country develops it usually means that people’s standard of living and quality of life will improve. Different factors affect a country’s level and speed of development.
LIC
Lower Income Country (poor country)
HIC
Higher Income Country (rich country)
NEE
Newly Emerging Economy (a country that is quickly developing)
Development
A positive change that makes things better. As a country develops it usually means that people’s standard of living and quality of life will improve. Different factors affect a country’s level and speed of development.
LIC
Lower Income Country (poor country)
HIC
Higher Income Country (rich country)
NEE
Newly Emerging Economy (a country that is quickly developing)
You may be asked to compare, evaluate, explain, assess these indicators. Make sure you understand why you would use each one and in what context these indicators could be seen as 'the best'.
Indicator |
Description |
What this looks like in a HIC |
What this looks like in a LIC |
Limitation of data collection |
Gross National Income (GNI) |
The value of goods and services produced by a country, plus the money earned from, and paid to, other countries. It is expressed as per head (per capita) of the population. |
High |
Low |
Doesn't show wealth inequalities within countries. |
Human Development Index (HDI) |
It links wealth to education. It aims to show how far people are benefitting from a country’s economic growth. It uses life expectancy at birth, the number of years of education and GNI per capita. |
High |
Low |
It doesn't take into account all of the possible development indicators |
Birth Rate |
The number of people born per 1000 per year. |
Low |
High |
HICs have accurate birth data but this isn't the case all over the world. In some places it is an estimate. |
Death Rate |
The number of people that die per 1000 per year. |
Low |
High |
HICs have accurate death data but this isn't the case across the world. In some places it is an estimate. |
Infant Mortality |
The number of deaths of infants under 1 year old per 1000 per year. |
Low |
High |
HICs have accurate data but this isn't the case everywhere. Miscarriages and still births are not counted in this measure. |
Number of Doctors per 1000 |
The number of doctors available per 1000 people |
High |
Low |
This is an average and doesn't show inequalities across the country. |
Literacy Rate |
The percentage of people over 15 years old who can read and write. |
High |
Low |
Only measures basic reading and writing competence. Hard to measure in some countries or places within them that don't take part in formalised tests. |
Safe Water Access |
The percentage of people who have access to safe water |
High |
Low |
'Access' is a problematic term. It doesn't always mean plumbing within the home so there will be variation within this data that is hidden. |
How can we measure wellbeing?
"Wellbeing can't be measured by money or traded in markets. It's about the beauty of our surroundings, the quality of our culture and, above all, the strength of our relationships. Improving our society's sense of wellbeing is, I believe, the central political challenge of our times.“
David Cameron 2010
Psychologists have shown that after a certain point, rises in national wealth are not matched by increases in happiness.
Wellbeing is linked to quality of life. Quality of life is more than how much money people have - it takes into account other factors like education dn access to healthcare. Standard of living only looks at factors related directly to income
David Cameron 2010
Psychologists have shown that after a certain point, rises in national wealth are not matched by increases in happiness.
Wellbeing is linked to quality of life. Quality of life is more than how much money people have - it takes into account other factors like education dn access to healthcare. Standard of living only looks at factors related directly to income