Different Ways of Measuring Development
Geography: Edexcel IGCSE, topic 3.3.2
Measures of Development
Development is an improvement in a country's capacity to produce goods and services for its population. This usually improves people's standard of living in that country. What can development be measured by?
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita
- GDP is the total value of goods and services produced by a country annually.
- GDP per capita equals the GDP divided by the population of a country.
Human Development Index (HDI)
- The HDI is a measure that combines lots of different measures like education, healthcare, income, life expectancy, and others.
- The HDI scale ranges from 0 (least developed countries) to 1 (most developed countries).
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)
- The CPI is an approximate measure of how corrupt the government is in a nation.
- The CPI ranges from 0-100, with 100 being the least corrupt government.
Gini coefficient
- The Gini coefficient measures how much of the income of a country goes to the richest people in that country.
- A measure of 1 tells us that all the income goes to the richest people.
Test yourself on Different Ways of Measuring Development
What do we call the total value of goods and services produced by a country annually?
What does a Gini coefficient of 0 tell you about a country?