Standard of Living

Less Developed Countries (LDC)

The world´s most impoverished and vulnerable countries. A group of countries that have been classified by the UN n terms of their low gross national income (GNI), their weak human assets and their high degree of economic vulnerability

Quaternary Economic Activity

based on knowledge applicable to some business activity that usually involves the provision of services. For example, the it might include: information gathering, distribution and technology; research and development; vocational education; business consulting; and strategic financial services.

Out-sourcing

business practice of hiring a party outside a company to perform services and create goods that traditionally were performed in-house by the company's own employees and staff.

More Developed Countries (MDC)

has a highly developed economy and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized nations. Most commonly, the criteria for evaluating the degree of economic development are gross domestic product (GDP), gross national product (GNP), the per capita income, level of industrialization, amount of widespread infrastructure and general standard of living.

Land Use

involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods.

GDP Per Capita Income

measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

one of the primary indicators used to gauge the health of a country's economy. It represents the total dollar value of all goods and services produced over a specific time period; you can think of it as the size of the economy.

Secondary Economic Activity

portion of the economy that is concerned with receiving raw materials and transforming (manufacturing) them into serviceable items, properties or other goods.

Tertiary Economic Activity

provides services to its consumers. This includes a wide range of businesses including financial institutions, schools, transports and restaurants.

Primary Economic Activity

sector of the economy is the sector of an economy making direct use of natural resources. This includes agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining

Standard of Living

the amount of goods and services produced and available to purchase by a person, family, group, or nation. It doesn't measure nonmaterial characteristics, such as relationships, freedom, and satisfaction. These are important to a good quality of life, but are difficult to objectively measure.

Birthrate

the number of live births per thousand of population per year.

Literacy Rate

the percentage of people who are able to read and write in their primary language vs those who are not.

Globalization

the trend of increasing interaction between people or companies on a worldwide scale due to advances in transportation and communication technology, nominally beginning with the steamship and the telegraph in the early to mid-1800s. With increased interactions between nation-states and individuals came the growth of international trade, ideas, and culture. It is primarily an economic process of integration that has social and cultural aspects, but conflicts and diplomacy are also large parts of the history of globalization.

Newly Industrialized Countries (NIC)

Country whose national economy has transitioned from being primarily based in agriculture to being primarily based in goods-producing industries, such as manufacturing, construction, and mining, during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Also trades more with other countries and has a higher standard of living than (LDC) developing countries. However, it has not yet reached the level of economic advancement of (MDC) developed countries and regions such as the United States, Japan, and western Europe.

Level of Foreign Investors

How many companies or individuals from one nation invests in assets or ownership stakes of a company based in another nation. ... This type of investment isn't as favorable as direct investment because the home country can sell their investment very easily, on the next day if they choose

Purchasing Power

How much one can buy with a given income

GDP (PPP ) Purchasing Power Parity per capita

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) is measured by finding the values (in USD) of a basket of consumer goods that are present in each country (such as orange juice, pencils, etc.) ... Therefore, even if a country has a higher GDP per capita (individual income), that country's people may still live poorer if the cost of living is higher.

Imports

a commodity, article, or service brought in from abroad for sale.

Exports

a commodity, article, or service sold abroad.

Human Development Index (HDI)

a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and income per capita indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers.

Life Expectancy

a statistical measure of the average time a person's is expected to live, based on the year of their birth, their current age and other demographic factors including sex.

Gender Inequality Index (GII)

an inequality index. It shows the loss in potential human development due to disparity between female and male achievements in two dimensions, empowerment and economic status

Pandemic

an outbreak of a disease that occurs over a wide geographic area and affects an exceptionally high proportion of the population.