Indicators of development.

EDUCATION

-Education. Do the population have access to education? Is it free? What level of education is available (ie primary, secondary or further/higher education)?

HEALTH

-Health. Do the population have access to medical care? What level of healthcare is available - basic or advanced? Is it free?

Government spending priorities

Government spending priorities - compares health and education expenditure with military expenditure and paying off debts.

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year.

Unemployment

Unemployment is the number of people who cannot find work.

Human Development Index.

-Indicator of level of development for each country, constructed by United Nations, combining income, literacy, education, and life expectancy -a measure of quality of life using life expectancy, child survival, adult literacy, childhood education, gender equity and access to clan water and sanitation as well as income.

INDUSTRY

-Industry. What type of industry dominates? LEDCs focus on primary industries, such as farming, fishing and mining. MEDCs focus on secondary industries, such as manufacturing. The most advanced countries tend to focus more on tertiary or service industries, such as banking and information technology.

Access to basic services

Access to basic services - the availability of services necessary for a healthy life, such as clean water and sanitation.

Access to education

Access to education - measures how many people attend primary school, secondary school and higher education.

Access to healthcare

Access to healthcare - takes into account statistics such as how many doctors there are for every patient.

Access to technology

Access to technology - includes statistics such as the percentage of people with access to phones, mobile phones, television and the internet.

Demographics

Demographics study population growth and structure. It compares birth rates to death rates, life expectancy and urban and rural ratios. Many LEDCs have a younger, faster-growing population than MEDCs, with more people living in the countryside than in towns. The birth rate in the UK is 11 per 1,000, whereas in Kenya it is 40.

Economic structure

Economic structure shows the division of a country's economy between primary, secondary and tertiary industries.

Gross National Product (GNP)

Gross National Product (GNP) measures the total economic output of a country, including earnings from foreign investments. GNP per capita is a country's GNP divided by its population. (Per capita means per person.) Economic growth measures the annual increase in GDP, GNP, GDP per capita, or GNP per capita.

Inequality of wealth

Inequality of wealth is the gap in income between a country's richest and poorest people. It can be measured in many ways, (eg the proportion of a country's wealth owned by the richest 10 per cent of the population, compared with the proportion owned by the remaining 90 per cent).

Infant mortality rate

Infant mortality rate - counts the number of babies, per 1000 live births, who die under the age of one. This is 5 in the UK and 61 in Kenya.

Inflation

Inflation measures how much the prices of goods, services and wages increase each year. High inflation (above a few percent) can be a bad thing, and suggests a government lacks control over the economy.

Life expectancy

Life expectancy - the average age to which a person lives, eg this is 79 in the UK and 48 in Kenya.

Literacy rate

Literacy rate - is the percentage of adults who can read and write. This is 99 per cent in the UK, 85 per cent in Kenya and 60 per cent in India.

Male/female equality

Male/female equality - compares statistics such as the literacy rates and employment between the sexes.

Poverty

Poverty - indices count the percentage of people living below the poverty level, or on very small incomes (eg under £1 per day).

Risk of disease

Risk of disease- calculates the percentage of people with diseases such as AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Sustainable development

Sustainable development means improving our quality of life without damaging the quality of life of future generations. It is important to all of us, not just the other inhabitants of the planet, that sustainable development is achieved. This involves each of us as individuals, and careful planning at local, regional and global levels.

indicators of development

act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining, GDP per capita; types of jobs; worker productivity; access to raw materials; availability of consumer goods; literacy rate; life expectancy; education