Development - GCSE Geography Definition

What is development in geography?

In GCSE Geography, development refers to a process that raises the standard of living within a country. Increased production of goods and services typically achieves this, leading to an increase in wealth.

It is impossible to define a country's level of development using one measure because development covers so many strands. Typically, a range of measures are combined to assess the level of development a country has reached. Measures of development include:

• Gross National Income (GNI): the total amount of money that a country's population earns in a year.

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP): the total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year.

• Demographic data: population data such as life expectancy, infant mortality, birth and death rates.

• The Human Development Index (HDI) combines a range of measures, including literacy, income, and life expectancy.

The measures of development can also be categorised into several groups, including:

• social: education, health.

• economic: income.

• physical: climate, housing.

• psychological: freedom, happiness.

The exam boards refer to a country's level of development in different ways. It is important to be familiar with the correct terms.

• Edexcel: developed, emerging and developing

• OCR: advanced countries (ACs), emerging and developing countries (EDCs) and low-income developing countries (LIDCs)

• AQA: high-income countries (HICs), newly emerging economies (NEEs) and low-income countries (LICs)