Understanding Economic and Social Development Indicators

Economic Indicators

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP): The total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year.
• Gross National Income (GNI): The total income of a country, including earnings from abroad.
• Gross National Product (GNP): Similar to GNI, it measures the total economic output.

Social Indicators

• Life Expectancy: The average period a person is expected to live.
• Infant Mortality Rate: The percentage of infants who die before their first birthday.
• Access to Sanitation: The percentage of the population with access to sanitation facilities.
• Access to Clean Water: The percentage of the population with access to clean drinking water.
• Healthcare Access: The average number of people per doctor.
• Education: The percentage of children and young people who go to school.
• Literacy Rate: The percentage of adults who can read and write.
• Technology Access: The percentage of the population that has mobile phones and technologies.

Human Development Index

The index is created by combining indicators of life expectancy, education, and income. It classifies the countries of the world into four broad bands: very high, high, medium, and low human development.

Inequalities Within Countries

In all countries, some areas develop faster because of human and physical advantages, becoming core areas, while other areas become the less important periphery. Urban areas usually develop as the core, especially capital cities, while rural areas develop as the periphery.

Transmigration aims to reduce poverty and overpopulation, provide opportunities for hardworking poor people, and create a workforce to better utilize the natural resources of the underdeveloped outer islands.

Sectors of Production

• Primary Sector: The part of a country’s economy that grows or extracts raw materials.
• Secondary Sector: The part of a country’s economy that is concerned with manufacturing and processing products.
• Tertiary Sector: The part of a country’s economy that provides services.
• Quaternary Sector: The part of a country’s economy that provides information services, such as information and communication technologies.

Employment Structure

The employment structure of a country shows the percentage of workers in the primary, secondary, and tertiary/quaternary sectors. The workforce is divided in different ways in countries at different levels of economic development. In the most developed countries, more people work in the tertiary and quaternary sectors than in the primary and secondary sectors.

Farming is important because many people are subsistence farmers, earning the food they produce. Additionally, crops such as fruit are a major export. Much of the work on farms is done by hand rather than by machinery.

Globalization

Globalization is the process of increased connection among countries, especially in economics, politics, and culture. All countries now belong to the global economy, where something that happens in one country can have effects throughout the world.

Causes of Globalization

• Increased trade
• Labour availability and skills
• Improvements in transport
• Quick communications