How can economic well-being and the quality of life be measured?
What evidence is there to show that Doha (in Qatar) is one of the richest parts of the world? What evidence is there to show that this part of India is one of the poorest parts of the world? Starter
Measuring wealth GDP is the most common indicator of a country’s wealth GDP is the most common indicator of a country’s wealth Gross Domestic Product is the total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year. Gross Domestic Product is the total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year. It is divided by the total population of the country (per capita) It is divided by the total population of the country (per capita)
Purchasing Power Parity Organisations such as the UN publish GDP data at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). Organisations such as the UN publish GDP data at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). This takes into account the differences in the cost of living between countries (for example, living in Sweden and Japan is very expensive!) This takes into account the differences in the cost of living between countries (for example, living in Sweden and Japan is very expensive!) Which countries would you expect to be in the: Which countries would you expect to be in the: Top 4? Top 4? Bottom 4? Bottom 4? Top 4 countries (GDP per capita – PPP) Qatar$80,900 Luxembourg$80,500 Malta$53,400 Norway$53,000 Bottom 4 countries (GDP per capita – PPP) Ethiopia$800 Eritrea$800 Sierra Leone $700 Niger$700
Imagine you were faced with this map in the exam and asked to ‘DESCRIBE HOW GDP VARIES BETWEEN COUNTRIES’ (4 marks) How would you go about doing it?
Over to you… Now we have discussed how you could go about answering the question… You have 5 minutes to complete this task
Learning review Students will be selected at random to showcase their work via the visualiser
Measuring the quality of life It must be remembered that development is not just based on wealth… The Human Development Index (HDI) was introduced in 1990 to measure the quality of life. It contains 3 variables: 1.Life expectancy 2.Educational attainment (how many children go to primary, secondary and tertiary education, plus adult literacy) 3.GDP per capita (PPP$) Each of these figures are converted into an index with an overall HDI value of 1.0. The closer the figure is to 1.0 = the more developed the country is
CountryGDPHDIGDP rankHDI Rank USA$29, Argentina$10, Australia$20, Brazil$6, Canada$22, Chad$ China$3, Congo (Zaire)$ Egypt$3, Ethiopia$ France$22, India$1, Japan$24, Malta Mexico$8, Qatar Sierra Leone$ South Africa$7, Sudan$1, Sweden$19, Turkey$6, United Kingdom$20, Once you have completed your table – think about the following… Are there differences between the GDP and HDI scores? Which do you think is the best method of measuring development?
Plenary - How else can development be measured? You have 2 minutes to write down as many indicators that could be used to measure how developed a country is… Suitable development indicators