Measuring Development (Edexcel IGCSE Geography)

Spec point — 4GE1-S3.066

Measuring development

• Measures of development can be economic, social or a combination

• Some of the most commonly used include:

  • literacy
  • life expectancy
  • infant mortality
  • GDP

Literacy

• Literacy is a measure of how many adults can read and write

  • In developed countries literacy rates average 96%
  • Less-developed countries have average literacy rates of 65%

Life expectancy

• Life expectancy is the average age a person can be expected to live

  • Life expectancy is impacted by:

    • physical and human environmental factors
    • personal lifestyle
    • incidence of disease
    • access to healthcare

Infant mortality

• Infant mortality rates refer to the number of children per 1000 who die below the age of 1

• 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

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita

• 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

  • There can be huge differences in GDP depending on the size and population of a country
  • Dividing it by the population means that more meaningful comparisons can be made between countries

• GDP per capita is an average this means that the variation in wealth is hidden

  • It is possible that two countries can have the same average GDP per capita but that one has a few very wealthy people and lots of people living in poverty whereas the other has a more equal distribution of wealth

• There is no way of knowing what the GDP is spent on

  • GDP increases after an earthquake due to rebuilding which is needed
  • This does not mean that the country is more developed or that everyone's quality of life has improved

Human Development Index

Spec point — 4GE1-S3.066

• The Human Development Index (HDI) is a combined measure of average achievement in key areas of human development, health, education and standard of living using the following data

  • Life expectancy at birth
  • Mean years of schooling for adults aged 25 years
  • Expected years of education for children at school entering the age
  • Gross National Income (GNI) per capita

• Countries can be divided into four groups using HDI

  • Very High Human Development (VHHD)
  • High Human Development (HHD)
  • Medium Human Development (MHD)
  • Low Human Development (LHD)

• HDI is scored from 0 to 1

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

• Norway has the highest HDI at 0.957

• Niger has the lowest HDI at 0.394

Map showing Human Development Index (HDI)

Measures of Inequality

Spec point — 4GE1-S3.066

• GDP and HDI are not able to identify inequality within countries

• In some countries, there is a significant gap between the wealthy and the poorest in the population

• The Gini coefficient index is used to analyse the distribution of wealth and identify the countries where wealth distribution is most unequal

  • Measured on a scale of 0 - 1.0 or as a percentage
  • A low value means that the distribution of wealth is more equal - a measurement of 0 would mean that wealth is distributed completely equally
  • A high value means the distribution of wealth is unequal - a measurement of 1 would indicate maximum inequality
  • The Gini coefficient index is usually between 0.24 and 0.63 or 24%-63%

• The highest inequality is currently in South Africa, Central Africa, Namibia, Zambia and Suriname

• The lowest inequality is in the Czech Republic and Croatia

Gini Index - income inequality map

Indices of Political Corruption

Spec point — 4GE1-S3.066

• Political corruption can have a devastating impact on both development and human welfare

  • It means money is often not invested in infrastructure, development and human welfare but goes to wealthy individuals
  • It leads to a lack of trust between local/national governments and the population

• Transparency International scores 180 countries around the world out of 100 based on the levels of public sector corruption

• The higher the score the less corruption has been found

  • Denmark, New Zealand, Finland and Singapore have the lowest levels of public sector corruption scoring 85/100 or more
  • Somalia, Syria and South Sudan have the highest levels of public sector corruption scoring less than 15/100

Worked Example **Suggest why GDP per capita is not necessarily a good indicator of the quality of life. **

(2 Marks)

• Answer **- any two of the following

  • GDP measures only economic production (1)
  • Quality of life is not only about income** (1)**
  • GDP is an average measure so many people may have incomes below this (1)
  • The wealth is not shared equally across the population** (1)**
  • It depends on what the GDP is spent on - weapons do not improve quality of life** (1)
  • It does not consider health or education (1)

Exam Hint No measure of development will be completely reliable as they all look at different factors. Quality of life and development is a combination of a wide range of factors, not just a few.