GeographyThe urban and economic world25 min★★★ difficulty

Measuring development and the changing economic world

One number can never describe a country. Learning why is one of the most useful things geography teaches you.

Part of your national curriculum

Human and physical geography: Understand population and urbanisation, including international development and the causes and effects of migration
Human and physical geography: Understand economic activity in the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors, and the change in their inter-relationships in different economic settings
Geographical skills and fieldwork: Interpret and analyse a range of quantitative and qualitative data, including statistical data on trends and relationships between geographical phenomena

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Compare development measures and explain economic change between sectors.

Key learning points

• Measures of development
• The demographic transition
• The four sectors
• Reducing the development gap

This lesson at a glance

25 minutes
21 parts to scroll through
4 quick checks
Marked quiz at the end
Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

developmentmeasureseconomicchangesectors

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Measuring development and the changing economic world illustration

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Measuring development and the changing economic world

One number can never describe a country. Learning why is one of the most useful things geography teaches you.

In a nutshell

Compare development measures and explain economic change between sectors.

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 21

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Measures of development

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Measures of development

Gross national income per head measures average income, adjusted for what money actually buys. Birth rate, death rate, infant mortality, life expectancy, literacy and people per doctor each capture one aspect. The Human Development Index combines income, life expectancy and years of schooling into a single figure between 0 and 1, which is more balanced than income alone but still an average that hides regional and gender inequality, informal work and quality of life.

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The demographic transition

As a country develops, death rates fall first as sanitation, food supply and medicine improve, so population grows rapidly. Birth rates fall later as women's education and employment increase, child mortality falls and contraception becomes available. Eventually both are low and population stabilises or ages. Placing a country on this model explains its population pyramid and the pressures it faces, from school places to pensions.

Quick check

Part 6 of 21

Quick check

Which sector does software design belong to?

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Part 7 of 21

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A limitation of GNI per head is that

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Learning cycle

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Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · The four sectors

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The four sectors

Primary work extracts raw materials: farming, fishing, mining. Secondary manufactures them. Tertiary provides services: retail, health, teaching, transport. Quaternary provides knowledge and research: software, biotech, design. Countries typically shift employment from primary to secondary during industrialisation, then to tertiary and quaternary. The UK has completed that shift; several NEEs are in the middle of it.

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Reducing the development gap

Strategies include investment by transnational corporations, which brings jobs and skills but can export profits; aid, which is fast in emergencies but can create dependency if poorly targeted; intermediate technology such as treadle pumps and improved stoves, which is affordable and repairable locally; micro-finance for small businesses; debt relief; and fair trade, which raises the share of the price reaching producers. Industrial growth and tourism can transform an economy, but both need infrastructure and can damage the environment if unmanaged.

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Quick check

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Quick check

In the demographic transition, which usually falls first?

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Part 14 of 21

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A strength of intermediate technology is that it

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Part 15 of 21

Worked example

Worked answer: explain why the Human Development Index is a better measure than income alone (6 marks)

Income per head only shows economic output, so a country with high oil revenue but poor schools and hospitals appears highly developed when most citizens are not (2). The HDI also includes life expectancy and years of schooling, which reflect whether that wealth is being converted into health and education for the population (2). It is still an average, so it hides inequality between regions, genders and ethnic groups and ignores freedom, safety and environmental quality, which is why geographers use it alongside other indicators rather than instead of them (2).

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Challenge round

Part 17 of 21

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

Challenge round

Part 18 of 21

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

Gross national income per head ____ average income, adjusted for what money actually buys.

Challenge round

Part 19 of 21

Game · Recall cards

A city's population doubles in twenty years. Which pressure is most likely?

Card 1 of 4

Mastery quiz

Part 20 of 21

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Measuring development and the changing economic world

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

1. A city's population doubles in twenty years. Which pressure is most likely?
2. Drought forcing a family to leave is a…
3. Wildebeest migration mainly follows…
4. A pull factor could be…

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How this is going

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Understand population and urbanisation, including international development and the causes and effects of migration
Not looked at yet
Understand economic activity in the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors, and the change in their inter-relationships in different economic settings
Not looked at yet
Interpret and analyse a range of quantitative and qualitative data, including statistical data on trends and relationships between geographical phenomena