Economics (AS)·Living standards & development · NSSCAS 7.1
Living standards, GDP per capita, HDI & urbanisation
Narrated lesson · press play
How do we tell whether people in one country live better than in another — and whether life is improving over time? In this lesson we build and evaluate the two headline indicators the AS examiner expects: GDP per capita (national output shared per person) and the Human Development Index, which folds income, health and education into a single number between 0 and 1. We then explain why developed and developing countries differ so sharply in productivity and economic structure, look at Namibia's large informal sector and dual economy, and evaluate the economic effects of rapid urbanisation — the growth of Windhoek and its informal settlements being our running example.
What you'll learn in this lesson
By the end you should be able to (NSSCAS Economics (AS) 7.1):
- Evaluate gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and Human Development Index (HDI) as indicators of comparative living standards
- Explain reasons for disparities between developed and developing countries in productivity and the structural organisation of economic activity, formal and informal sectors
- Describe and evaluate the economic effects of increasing urbanisation
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