1.1.2 Global patterns of economic development
Content
- Geographic inquiry and concept(s)
- How population varies between places
- Geographic knowledge and understanding
- Global patterns and classification of economic development: low-income countries
- Global patterns and classification of economic development: middle-income countries and emerging economies
- Global patterns and classification of economic development: high-income countries
- Case study or detailed examples
- Neither required by the syllabus
- Aims of this lesson
- To have knowledge of the global pattern of economic development for low, middle and high income countries.
- To understand how countries are classified into low, middle and high income groups.
Base knowledge and understanding
News article
Key terms
- Economic development
- The process whereby simple, low-income national economies are transformed into modern industrial economies.
- Emerging economies
- There is no official definition of an emerging market. The IMF World Economic Outlook classifies 39 economies as “advanced,” based on such factors as high per capita income, exports of diversified goods and services, and greater integration into the global financial system. The following countries are in the emerging market group, in alphabetical order: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Egypt, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
- Gross Domestic Product
- A key economic indicator that measures the total value of all goods and services produced within a country's borders over a specified period, usually a year or a quarter.
- Gross National Income
- An economic metric that measures the total income earned by a nation's people and businesses, regardless of whether they are located within the country or abroad.
- High-income economies
- Those with a GNI per capita, calculated using the World Bank Atlas method, of more than $13,935 in 2024.
- Low-income economies
- Those with a GNI per capita, calculated using the World Bank Atlas method, of $1,135 or less in 2024.
- Lower middle-income economies
- Those with a GNI per capita, calculated using the World Bank Atlas method, between $1,136 and $4,495 in 2024.
- Middle-income country
- Defined by the World Bank as economies with a gross national income (GNI) per capita between $1,136 and $13,935 in 2024. This classification includes both lower middle-income economies and upper middle-income economies. MICs are home to 75% of the world's population and 62% of the world's poor, and they represent about one-third of global GDP.
- Upper middle-income economies
- Those with a GNI per capita, calculated using the World Bank Atlas method, between $4,496 and $13,935 in 2024.
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Review
- Outline one economic characteristic of low-income countries. [2]
- Suggest two reasons why some countries remain classified as low-income. [4]
- International flows of waste cause more harm to receiving countries than the consumption patterns that created them. To what extent do you agree with this statement? [10]