Population and urbanisation, Year 11: measuring development and why it is uneven

Gross national income (GNI) per head

HintAn average for each person, usually given in US dollars.

The whyGNI per head is the main economic measure of development. It is the figure the World Bank uses to sort countries into its own income groups, which it updates every July. It differs from GDP per head because it adds money earned abroad and takes away money paid to people abroad.

A newly emerging economy (NEE)

HintThe middle group of three in the classification AQA uses.

The whyAQA sorts countries into lower income countries (LICs), newly emerging economies (NEEs) and higher income countries (HICs). An NEE has fast-growing manufacturing and services and rising incomes, but often large gaps between rich and poor. The groups are a rough guide: countries move between them as they change.

life expectancy; schooling; income

HintOne blank is about lifespan, one about classrooms, one about money.

The whyThe United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works out the HDI from three dimensions and four indicators. Health and standard of living have one indicator each. Education has two: the years of school adults have had, and the years a child starting school can expect. The result is a score between 0 and 1.

Most work in cities, so rural areas have far fewer

HintThink about a remote village compared with the capital.

The whyEvery national average hides differences inside the country. Doctors and hospitals are concentrated in large towns, so a family in a remote area may be many hours from care even when the national figure looks good. The figure also says nothing about whether people can afford to see the doctor.

A large share of elderly people

HintLook at the top of the population pyramid.

The whyDeath rate is deaths per 1,000 people per year, whatever their age. Where people live long lives, a large part of the population is old, and old people are more likely to die in any one year. A lower income country with a very young population can therefore have a lower death rate. This is why death rate alone is a poor guide to development.

4

HintBirth and death lines have come back together near the bottom of the graph.

The whyAs a country develops, better food, clean water and health care bring the death rate down first, then the birth rate follows as children survive, girls stay in school and families choose to have fewer children. So, as a rough guide, many LICs are at stage 2, many NEEs at stage 3 and most HICs at stage 4. A few HICs are at stage 5, where the birth rate falls below the death rate.

Money has to be spent on repairing damage instead of on new investment

HintThink about what happens to a road budget after a bridge is washed away.

The whyThis is a physical cause of uneven development. Each event destroys homes, crops, roads and power lines, and the cost of rebuilding uses up money that could have paid for schools, clinics or new industry. A country with little to spare can be set back again before it has recovered from the last event.

prices

HintWhat a buyer pays for a tonne of copper or coffee is not fixed.

The whyThis is an economic cause of uneven development. Raw materials (primary products) such as crops, metals and oil are traded on world markets, and what they sell for can change sharply from one year to the next. A government that relies on one or two of them cannot plan its spending with confidence.

historical

HintThe other two kinds are physical and economic.

The whyAQA sorts the causes into three kinds. Physical causes come from the natural environment, such as climate, hazards or having no coastline. Economic causes are about trade and debt. Historical causes are events in the past, such as colonial rule or a long conflict, whose effects last. In an exam answer, sorting your causes this way gives the answer a clear shape.

Non-infectious diseases of later life, such as heart disease, stroke and cancer

HintIllnesses you cannot catch from another person.

The whyThis is the disparity in health. The World Health Organization reported that in 2023 seven of the ten leading causes of death in low-income countries were in its 'communicable' group: infectious diseases, together with conditions around birth and poor nutrition. Many are preventable with clean water, vaccines and basic care. In high-income countries nine of the ten were non-infectious (chronic) diseases.

An economic migrant

HintThe first word describes jobs and wages.

The whyInternational migration is one consequence of uneven development: people move from places with fewer opportunities to places with more. This kind of migrant chooses to move and can usually return home. A refugee is different: someone forced to flee war or persecution. Many migrants send part of their wages home, which helps their families and their home country.