Development: indicators, change and inequality
Compare development measures, trace economic change and examine who benefits from national progress.
Choose a suitable indicator
Development includes income, health, education and opportunity. GNI per person describes an average income measure; life expectancy and educational indicators answer different questions.
HDI combines health, education and income dimensions. No single indicator reveals every regional or household difference.
Worked example
Fictional incomes of 1, 1, 1, 1 and 16 units have mean 4 and median 1. The mean does not describe the typical household well in this unequal distribution.
Common mistake: A national average is not an amount received by every resident.
Trace industrial and trading change
Primary, secondary and tertiary activities connect through production and services. Manufacturing can increase jobs and exports while depending on imported inputs and decisions elsewhere.
TNC investment, trade relationships and aid can influence change. Assess training, tax, working conditions and environmental effects alongside gross output.
Worked example
A fictional export sells for 100 units, with 60 spent on imported components. The remaining 40 is not automatically worker pay; it also covers other domestic costs and returns.
Common mistake: Gross export value is not the same as income retained locally.
Evaluate a development strategy
Tourism, investment, fair trade, debt relief and services target different constraints. Benefits depend on participation, governance and durable demand.
Use Nigeria’s national evidence and Rwanda’s tourism evidence at their own scales. A project outcome cannot establish national equality.
Worked example
Fictional household spending rises from 100 to 110 while prices rise from 100 to 120. Its purchasing-power index is 110 ÷ 120 × 100 = 91.7, below the baseline.
Common mistake: Higher nominal income can accompany lower purchasing power.
Try a different resource
Choropleth maps
The shading represents a percentage of households, not a total. Class boundaries are lower-inclusive and upper-exclusive.
Scroll the diagram sideways to see the full resource.
| District | Reported damage (%) | Households |
|---|---|---|
| A | 7 | 1000 |
| B | 11 | 500 |
| C | 25 | 500 |
| D | 31 | 100 |
Resource description
A–D use these non-overlapping classes: 0 to less than 10%; 10 to less than 20%; 20 to less than 30%; 30 to less than 40%. A has 1,000 households and D has 100 households.
Write an explanation
Check your answer
- Use income and non-income evidence.
- Explain production and trading connections.
- Identify winners, exclusions and environmental costs.
- Evaluate strategy outcomes with a clear scale and period.
Practise and review a written answer
Case studies
Nigeria: growth and household outcomes · Nature-based tourism in Rwanda · Viet Nam and global value chains
These pages provide selected evidence. Check the whole case requirement with your teacher.
Read further
- hdr.undp.org — source or course reference
- www.aqa.org.uk — source or course reference
- www.aqa.org.uk — source or course reference
- qualifications.pearson.com — source or course reference
- www.sqa.org.uk — source or course reference
- www.sqa.org.uk — source or course reference
- qualifications.pearson.com — source or course reference
- www.ocr.org.uk — source or course reference
- www.ocr.org.uk — source or course reference
- www.eduqas.co.uk — source or course reference
- www.eduqas.co.uk — source or course reference
- www.eduqas.co.uk — source or course reference
Measuring development · Global value chains · Matching evidence to a claim
Course links
AQA GCSE Geography · Pearson Edexcel GCSE Geography B · National 5 Geography · Higher Geography · Pearson Edexcel GCSE Geography A · OCR GCSE Geography A · OCR GCSE Geography B · Eduqas GCSE Geography A · Eduqas GCSE Geography B · Eduqas A-level Geography
Next topics
Globalisation: flows, value capture and dependence · Urban growth and change
Selected teaching sequence with fictional worked data. The linked case records supply bounded evidence; they do not satisfy every course case requirement.
Scottish links identify reusable parts of the topic. Scottish landforms, soil, weather and disease requirements need additional course-specific teaching.