⑬
GCSE GEOGRAPHY
The Development Gap
notebooklet
Paper 2 Section B :
The Changing Economic World
, Development → the progress of a country in terms of its economic growth, use of
technology and human welfare
Development gap → the difference in standards of living and wellbeing between
the world’s richest countries (HICs) and the poorest countries (LICs)
>> measured using social and economic indicators
>> social indicator → indicate people's quality of life and measures factors
concerning the wider society
>> economic indicator → measures the economic output (money) and wealth
of a country
① Gross National Income (GNI) → the total value of goods and services produced
by a country
→ HICS : GNI above $12,535
→ LICS : GNI below $1,045
→ a high amount of money owned by a country may correlate to greater economic
development, but does not directly indicate a better quality of life
→ NEES : GNI between $1,045 - $12,535 (includes BRICK & MINT countries)
② Human Development Index (HDI) → links wealth to health & education
→ measures used to produce the HDI of a country (expressed in values (0-1)
1) Life expectancy → higher life expectancy indicates better healthcare system
2) Number of years in education → more years in school means good
education system
3) GNI per capita
• indicates wealth of a country • gives an average for whole country
• allows countries to be ranked and (disproportionate wealth)
compared • does not indicate where the money is
being spent and whether it is aiding a
country’s development
• data may be corrupted or outdated
• may not take into account informal
economies (therefore, inaccurate)
• implies how much people are • hard to collect data for QoL as it is
benefitting from economic growth qualitative
• data may be corrupt or outdated
• gives an average for whole country
(may not be accurate in some parts
of country)