Measuring Development

Learning Goals
➢ SPS-7.C: Describe social and economic measures of
development.

I can describe development and explain how it is measured.

What is Development?
Development → A process of change in
society as it seeks to meet the needs of
its people.
➢ Improving the material conditions
of people via diffusion of knowledge
and technology
➢ Implies progress, but cultures view
progress differently
What does development
look and feel like?
Describing Development
System Low Development Middle Development High Development

Economic Level Low income Middle income High income

Industrialization Non-industrialized Newly Industrialized Post-Industrial

Human Development Low HDI Medium HDI High/Very High HDI

Index

World Systems Periphery Semi Periphery Core

Theory Country Country Country

Stages of Economic Stages 1 + 2 Stage 3 Stages 4 + 5

Growth
What can prevent
development from
happening?
Barriers to Development
● Lack of social welfare ● Political instability
○ Low life expectancy ○ Violence & war
○ High dependency rate ○ Coups
○ Lack of healthcare ○ Corruption
○ Low levels of education ● Lack of funds
○ Poor sanitation ○ Poor trade
○ Gender inequality relationships
○ Poor infrastructure ○ Lack of foreign
○ Social conflict investment
○ High debt
Ways to Measure Development
Development is typically measured using economic indicators or
social indicators, or a combination of both.

Economic Indicators Social/Demographic Indicators

● Economic output (Gross National ● Birth/death rate
Product, Gross Domestic Product, ● Fertility rate
Gross National Income) ● Life expectancy
● Sectoral distribution of workforce ● Gender inequality
● Income distribution ● Literacy rate
● Energy use and production ● Access to healthcare
Economic Measures of Development
Factors of economic development:
resource availability, population,
colonial status, location, climate, etc.
● Huge economic gaps exist between
the most and least developed
countries and between the rich
and poor within countries
● Measures don’t take informal
economy into account
Economic Sectors
Sector Description Examples

Primary Extraction of natural resources Farming, mining, fishing, etc.

Secondary Processing resources into products Manufacturing, construction

Tertiary Selling and transporting products Marketing, retail, design, etc.

Quaternary Research and transfer of knowledge Education, IT, banking, etc.

Quinary Highest level of decision making CEOs, judges, politicians, etc.

Sectoral Distribution of the
Workforce
● In less developed countries,
greater percentage of labor force
is employed in primary sector
● In middle income countries,
secondary sector accounts for
most economic activity
● In more developed countries, a
greater percentage of labor force
works in tertiary or quaternary/
quinary sectors
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
GDP → The total value of goods
and services produced within a
country’s borders in a year.
● Provides information about
the size of the economy and
how well it is performing
GDP Per Capita (2022)
Highest Lowest

Monaco ($234,317) Yemen ($302)

Liechtenstein ($169,260) Burundi ($311)
Luxembourg ($133,745) Afghanistan ($373)
Ireland ($101,109) South Sudan ($400)
Switzerland ($93,525) Somalia ($447)
Norway ($89,242) C.A.R. ($461)
USA ($69,185) Liberia ($471)
Iceland ($69,133) Mozambique ($492)
Denmark ($68,037) Madagascar ($500)
Australia ($66,916) Sierra Leone ($505)
Gross National Product (GNP)
GNP → The total value of goods
and services produced by the
citizens and corporations of a
country in a given year,
regardless of their location.
GNP by Country (2022)
Highest Lowest

USA ($23.5 T) Tuvalu ($80.7 M)

China ($16.7 T) Nauru ($211.7 M)
Japan ($5.4 T) Palau ($230.4 M)
Germany ($4.3 T) Marshall Islands ($285 M)
India ($3.0 T) Kiribati ($354.9 M)
UK ($2.994 T) Micronesia ($450.7 M)
France ($2.991 T) Sao Tome & Principe ($504.4 M)
Italy ($2.1 T) Tonga ($522.3 M)
Canada ($1.85 T) Dominica ($563.8 M)
South Korea ($1.81 T) Samoa ($834.1 M)
Gross National Income (GNI)
GNI → Measure of the worth of
what is produced within a
country plus income received
from investments outside the
country in a year.
GNI Per Capita (2020)
Highest Lowest

Qatar ($88,070) Burundi ($780)

Singapore ($86,480) Somalia ($870)
Luxembourg ($83,690) CAR ($1040)
Ireland ($72,470) South Sudan ($1080)
Switzerland ($69,190) DR Congo ($1100)
Brunei ($67,560) Niger ($1210)
UAE ($66,660) Mozambique ($1250)
Norway ($66,020) Liberia ($1250)
USA ($64,610) Madagascar ($1540)
Denmark ($62,180) Malawi ($1540)
GDP vs. GNP vs. GNI
Gross Domestic Gross National Gross National
Product Product Income
The total value of The total value of Measure of the worth
goods and services goods and services of what is produced
produced within that produced by the within a country plus
country’s borders in citizens/corporations income received from
a year. of a country in a given investments outside
year, regardless of the country in a year.
their location.
Gini Coefficient
Gini Coefficient→ A measurement of the distribution of
income within a population
● Values range between 0-1
○ 0 means everyone’s income is same
○ Higher the number, higher the degree of inequality
● In general, developing countries have the highest income
inequality and highly developed countries have lower
income inequality
Gini Coefficient (2021)
Highest Lowest
South Africa (.63) Slovenia (.24)
Namibia (.59) Czech Republic (.25)
Suriname (.58) Slovakia (.25)
Zambia (.57) Belarus (.25)
Sao Tome & Principe (.56) Moldova (.26)
CAR (.56) UAE (.26)
Eswatini (.55) Iceland (.26)
Mozambique (.54) Azerbaijan (.27)
Brazil (.53) Ukraine (.27)
Belize (.53) Belgium (.27)
Energy Use & Production
● More developed countries tend to use more energy,
including fossil fuels and renewable energy
○ Fossil fuels = coal, petroleum, oil, natural gas, etc.
○ Although developed countries have been slowly
decreasing their CO2 emissions, they still
produce much more than developing countries
○ More developed countries have greater
capability to build infrastructure that
harnesses renewable energy
Fossil Fuel Consumption (2021)
Highest Lowest
USA Kiribati
China Nauru
India Dominica
Japan Sao Tome & Principe
Saudi Arabia Vanuatu
Russia Comoros
South Korea Samoa
Canada Tonga
Brazil Saint Kitts & Nevis
Germany Equatorial Guinea
Renewable Energy Production (2021)
Highest Lowest
China Togo
USA Benin
India Eritrea
Russia South Sudan
Japan Niger
Canada Malta
Brazil Haiti
South Korea Namibia
France Congo
Germany Suriname
Social Measures of Development
● Generally, in highly developed countries, people enjoy a
high standard of living and in less developed countries,
people have lower standards of living
○ Factors associated with standard of living: poverty rate,
class disparity, quality of housing, working conditions,
access to healthcare, quality of education, political
stability, safety, environmental preservation
Fertility Rate
● Generally, the most developed countries
struggle with low fertility rates and the least
developed countries have very high fertility
rates.
○ Factors affecting fertility rates:
educational opportunities for women,
access to family planning methods,
government policies, gender equality, etc.
Fertility Rate (2022)
Highest Lowest
South Korea - 0.8 Niger - 6.8
Palau - 0.8 Somalia - 6.3
Singapore - 1.1 Chad - 6.3
Malta - 1.1 DR Congo - 6.2
Ukraine - 1.2 C.A.R. - 6.0
China - 1.2 Mali - 6.0
Spain - 1.2 Angola - 5.3
Italy - 1.3 Nigeria - 5.2
San Marino - 1.3 Burundi - 5.1
Andorra - 1.3 Benin - 5.0
Life Expectancy
● Life expectancy is higher in countries
with high levels of development and
lower in less developed countries
● Good indicator of overall quality of life
○ Greatly impacted by child mortality
○ Low life expectancy also suggests
poor nutrition and healthcare, etc.
Life Expectancy (2022)
Highest Lowest
Chad - 53.68 years Japan - 84.95 years
Nigeria - 53.87 years Switzerland - 84.38 years
Lesotho - 54.91 years Singapore - 84.27 years
C.A.R. - 55.48 years Italy - 84.20 years
South Sudan - 56.51 years South Korea - 84.14 years
Somalia - 57.35 years Spain - 84.05 years
Eswatini - 57.71 years Malta - 83.85 years
Namibia - 59.53 years Australia - 83.73 years
Guinea - 59.55 years Sweden - 83.65 years
Mali - 60.03 years Norway - 83.55 years
Gender Inequality Index
● Gender Inequality Index → A composite index for measuring
gender disparity.
○ Considers reproductive health (maternal mortality rate,
fertility rate), empowerment (government seats held by
each sex, proportion of females with secondary
education), and labor market participation of women
● Higher levels of gender equality are associated with higher
levels of development and lower levels are associated with
lower development
Gender Inequality Index (2021)
Lowest Highest
Denmark Yemen
Norway Papua New Guinea
Switzerland Afghanistan
Sweden Nigeria
Netherlands C.A.R.
Finland Chad
Singapore Liberia
Iceland Haiti
Luxembourg Mauritania
Belgium Sierra Leone
Access to Healthcare
● Generally, people in more developed
countries have more access to
healthcare and enjoy better quality
healthcare than those in less
developed countries
● Barriers to effective healthcare: cost,
limited number of doctors, lack of
infrastructure, inadequate supplies
and equipment, etc.
Healthcare Access & Quality Index (2016)
Highest Lowest
Iceland CAR
Norway Somalia
Netherlands Guinea-Bissau
Luxembourg Chad
Australia Afghanistan
Finland Guinea
Switzerland Kiribati
Sweden South Sudan
Italy Côte d-Ivoire
Andorra Burundi
Literacy Rate
● Generally, developed countries have very
high literacy rates and less developed
countries have lower literacy rates.
● Barriers to education: cost, lack of
government funding, lack of teachers,
poor quality of teacher training, lack of
infrastructure, exclusion based on
gender/ ethnicity/ability, political
instability, etc.
Literacy Rate (2021)
Highest Lowest
Uzbekistan (99.99%) Chad (22.31%)
Ukraine (99.97%) Guinea (32%)
San Marino (99.92%) South Sudan (34.52%)
Latvia (99.89%) Niger (35.05%)
Estonia (99.89%) Mali (35.47%)
Czech Republic (99.83%) CAR (37.4%)
Lithuania (99.82%) Burkina Faso (41.22%)
Tajikistan (99.80%) Benin (42.36%)
Azerbaijan (99.79%) Afghanistan (43.02%)
Kazakhstan (99.78%) Sierra Leone (43.12%)
Human Development Index (HDI)
● Human Development Index → A measure of development that
combines one economic measure (GNI per capita) with several
social measures, such as high life expectancy and average
education level.
○ Created by the UN
○ Rankings of countries by HDI and income often similar
○ Countries that invest in things like education or medicine
sometimes rank higher in HDI than income (i.e. Cuba)
○ Some countries have high incomes but don’t perform well
in terms of social measures (i.e. Qatar)
Human Development Index (2022)
Highest Lowest
Switzerland South Sudan
Norway Chad
Iceland Niger
Australia C.A.R.
Denmark Burundi
Sweden Mali
Ireland Mozambique
Germany Burkina Faso
Netherlands Yemen
Finland Guinea
 How are more and
less developed countries
distributed?
Distribution of Development
● Higher levels of development
○ North America & Europe (most developed regions)
○ Russia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand (highly developed
countries in less developed regions)
● Lower levels of development
○ Latin America, Southwest & Southeast Asia, Central
Asia, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa
 Why do geographers measure
development? Why does measuring
development matter?