How do we measure development? (WJEC Eduqas GCSE Geography B): Revision Note

Specification links

The notes on this page cover part 1.3.1 of the WJEC Eduqas B specification – What are global patterns of development?

• How development data and images are used to learn about levels of development in different countries, including the UK.

• The limitations of using data to ascertain levels of development.

• The merits of using economic data alongside human/social development data.

• How we define groups of countries that have similar characteristics.

  • Definitions must include ‘Least Economically Developed Countries’ or 'Low Income Countries' (LICs) and ‘Newly Industrialised Countries’ (NICs).

What is development?

• Development is the improvement in people's standard of living 

• This improvement may be:

  • Economic - growth of the economy due to changes in economic activities and technology

  • Social - improvement in people's health, education, water and food supply

  • Environmental – more sustainable use of the environment

• Development is not a smooth, continuous process

• A range of factors may slow, halt, and even reverse development, including:

  • War/conflict

  • Disease

  • Disasters 

  • Economic recession

• Development can occur through:

  • Investment in agriculture (tractors, fertilisers, etc.) improves food supplies, which in turn, improves the health of people

  • Improvements in supplies of power to rural areas 

  • Improvements in access to education for females and overall literacy rates

How is development measured?

• Development is hard to measure accurately, as it covers so many features or strands

• It is measured using indicators 

• Social indicators include:

  • Quality of life and social well-being

  • Equal opportunities, access to services such as education and healthcare

  • Life expectancy, birth control, education

  • Diversity, traditions and heritage

• Economic indicators include:

  • Employment, income and general wealth 

  • Savings, house building, house sales, consumer spending, international trade

  • Resources, pollution controls and conservation

• Individual indicators are misleading when used alone, as some features develop before others

  • This may indicate that a country is more developed than it really is

• By using multiple indicators as a measure of development, a clearer picture of that country's development is produced

• A country's GDP (gross domestic product), GNI (gross national income), and GNP (gross national product) are the traditional measures used to measure wealth

Measures of development

Economic sectors

• Economic sectors are indicators of a country's economic development, using either:

  • The amount each sector contributes to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

  • The percentage of the population they employ 

• The proportions of each economic sector's GDP and employment change over time:

  • In the pre-industrial period, the primary sector dominated with steady increases in the secondary and tertiary sectors

    • As countries develop, the reliance on the primary sector for GDP and employment rapidly decreases

  • During the industrial period, the amount of GDP and employment in the secondary sector increases to become dominant and then decreases

    • The primary sector continues to decrease, and the tertiary sector increases

    • Developed countries such as the UK, Germany and France began to move out of this stage in the 1960s

    • Newly industrialised (emerging) nations such as China and India began to move into this stage at that time

  • In the post-industrial phase, the tertiary and quaternary sectors increase whilst the secondary and primary sectors decrease

    • The tertiary sector dominates employment and GDP in the post-industrial period

Causes of change over time

• There are several reasons for the change in percentages employed in each sector:

  • Increasing mechanisation in agriculture led to a decrease in the number of jobs available

  • People move to urban areas to find jobs in the secondary and tertiary sectors

  • Increasing mechanisation and global changes then lead to a decrease in secondary employment in some countries  - this is known as deindustrialisation

  • Technological improvements lead to an increase in tertiary and quaternary employment

Gross domestic product (GDP)

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita is the total value of goods and services produced within a country in a year, divided by the population of the country

• It is a measure of economic wealth

• A high GDP improves development

• High effect on development

Gross national income (GNI)

• Gross national income (GNI) is the total income earned by a country's people and businesses, even if it was earned outside the country

• It is a measure of national economic wealth that can be used as an alternative to GDP

• GNI increases development

Human development index (HDI)

• This uses life expectancy, literacy rate, education level and GNI to calculate a country's score between 0 (least developed) and 1 (most developed)

• The UN created the Human Development Index (HDI) in 1990 as a better way of measuring disparities between countries

• The higher the HDI, the higher the level of development and quality of life

  • Norway has the highest HDI at 0.957  (2024)

  • Niger has the lowest HDI at 0.394 (2024)

Literacy rate

• This measures the percentage of adults who can read and write

• It is a social (education) indicator

• The lower the rate, the lower the development of the country

Life expectancy

• The average number of years a person can expect to live

• It is a social-health indicator

• The lower the age, the lower the development

People per doctor

• This measures the average number of people that could be seen by a doctor at any one time

• This is a social (health) and education indicator

• The lower the number of doctors, the lower the level of health care, and there is also a lack of suitable education to train people

Birth rate

• This is the number of live births per 1,000 of the total population in one year

• This is a social (women's rights) indicator

• A lower birth rate indicates higher levels of development, as women usually have access to better health care

Infant mortality rate

• This is the number of children who do not survive to their first birthday per 1,000 babies born

• This is a social (health) indicator

• The higher the number, the lower the development

  • Over 18 countries have an infant mortality rate of over 50 per 1000

    • These are all developing countries

    • Most of these countries are in Sub-Saharan Africa

Death rate

• This is the number of deaths per 1,000 of the country's population in a year

• This is a social (health) indicator

• The lower the number, the higher the development

  • Lack of healthcare, nutrition, clean water, and sanitation raises death rates in developing countries

Access to safe water

• This is the percentage of people who have access to safe drinking water

• This is a social (health) indicator

• The higher the rate, the higher the level of development

How effective are development indicators?

Gross domestic product (GDP)

• GDP ignores the welfare component, as the goods and services produced may or may not add to the welfare of society

• Pollution or even happiness leaves out some production in an economy, such as homegrown food

Gross national income (GNI)

• The measure only takes into account one factor – income

• It is an average calculation, so a few wealthy people can distort the figures

• Data about income is sensitive, so people may not always be honest about their earnings

• People working in the informal sector and 'stay-at-home' parents are not taken into account

• GNI per head is an average and hides information about whether a person is either rich or poor, or the quality of life within the country

Human development index (HDI)

• The index only takes into account four indicators of development, and the statistics provided by some countries may be unreliable and subjective

• The HDI is a general measure that relies on average calculations

• It does not take into account disparities (differences) that might exist within a country

Literacy rate

• This can be hard to measure in LICs due to a lack of monitoring

• Conflict zones and squatter settlements are difficult areas to measure literacy rates

Life expectancy

• Data is not always reliable, especially in LICs

• It can be misleading in countries with a very high rate of infant mortality, as people who survive infancy may live longer than expected 

People per doctor

• More people are seeking medical help and advice via mobile phone/web chat – this is not included in the data

Birth rate

• Some countries may have low birth rates but are quite poor (e.g. Cuba at 10 per 1000 – this is due to political decisions to invest more money in healthcare over other sectors)

• Birth control policies can distort this as a measure of overall development (e.g., China, 12 per 1000)

Infant mortality rate

• Not all the deaths of children are reported, especially in LICs and remote regions of NICs, meaning the true rates may be even higher

Death rate

• By comparison, the death rate is a less reliable measure of development than the birth rate

• Birth rates can be high in some LICs due to poverty, but also high in HICs, where many people die of old age

Access to safe water

• Data collection in LICs is not likely to be accurate, and official figures can underestimate the issue

• People may technically have access, but high costs force people to use unsafe water 

• Leaking pipes and natural disasters may deprive people of piped water

Comparing countries using development indicators

• Levels of development vary on a local, national and international scale

• There are differences between areas of the same city, the same country and between countries

  • Germany is more developed than Mexico, but Egypt is less developed than Mexico

• In 1980, the Brandt Report divided the world into the global south and north

  • It was a theoretical division of the world to visualise inequalities at the time

  • The line was based on wealth, with countries north of the line generally considered rich and those south considered poor

  • However, the division oversimplifies global economics and doesn't account for regional differences

AWAITING IMAGE

1980s view of the world: 'rich north and poor south'

• Since then, global development has become complex, with countries such as Brazil, India and China developing rapidly

• Globally, a country's level of development now follows a sliding-scale continuum from least to most developed

  • The least economically developed countries (LEDCs) or low-income countries (LICs):

    • Most people have a poor quality of life with inadequate services and few opportunities

    • GNI per capita of $1,045 or less, e.g. Chad and Ethiopia

    • High birth rates, high death rates, high infant and maternal mortality, and a young population structure with short life expectancy

  • Newly industrialised countries (NICs):

    • Countries experiencing rapid economic growth and development based on industrial development

    • Incomes are rising and most people enjoy a reasonable standard of living

    • GNI per capita of more than $1,045 but less than $12,695, e.g. Mexico, India and Malaysia

    • Decreasing birth and death rates, declining infant and maternal mortality, and a balanced population structure with a growing adult workforce

  • High-income countries (HICs):

    • Countries that have modern industries and where people enjoy a good standard of living with relatively high levels of income 

    • GNI per capita of above $12,696, e.g. Germany and the USA

    • Low birth and death rates, low infant and maternal mortality, and an ageing population structure with long life expectancy

• The differences between low and high development is known as the development gap