Development Indicators

GDP Per Capita Most widely used single indicator to assess living standards GDP/Population

Low (<$500) vs middle vs high (>$8,000) income countries Problems: does not include NON-MARKET transactions does not distinguish WHAT is being produced does not reflect INCOME DISTRIBUTION does not reflect QUALITY of life factors

Population Figures Birth Rates/Death Rates # of births/deaths per thousand

birth: MDC 14.9 LDC 26.2 death: MDC 10.1 LDC 8.3 Population Growth Rate % change in population over one year

World 1.7% Europe .2% Latin America 2.1% Africa 3% Demographic Structure

dependency burden=ratio of non-workers to workers

% of population under 15 (40-50% in LDCs) + over 65

Health Figures Life Expectancy # of years a baby born today can expect to live ceteris paribus

World 63/67 MDC 71/78 LDC 61/64

Infant Mortality # of babies who die before reaching 1 year per 1000

World 68 MDC 18 LDC 75 Calories Per Day/ Protein Per Day Population Per Doctor/ Population Per Hospital Bed

Education Figures Adult Illiteracy % of population over 15 who cannot read and write at a basic

level in low income countries this may be as high as 50%

Primary School Enrollment Per Capita Government Spending on Education

Poverty Absolute Poverty inability to meet basic physical needs of life

Relative Poverty living below the ‘standard’ of a given country

Income Distribution Income Distribution Ratio Population divided into quintiles; comparison of bottom two

quintiles to top quintile in terms of % of household income:

Bottom 40%/Top 20%India 20/41Poland 23/35Brazil 8/63USA 16/42

Other Indicators Energy Consumption per capita increases with “development”

Rural-Urban migration

Unemployment/Employment

primary, secondary vs tertiary sector trends

Composite Indicators Human Development Index HDI

GDP per capita @ PPP + life expectancy + literacy + school enrollment measured on a 0-1 scale

Human Suffering Index HSI

measures economic + political indicators; 0-100 scale

Sustainable Planet Index takes into account environmental affects + resource use