Development of a country can generally be determined by (1) it’s per capita income (2) its average literacy level (3) health status of its people (4) all the above. In general, a country’s growth is decided by its per capita income, its average level of literacy as well as the health status of the people in the nation.

Here, we shall look at some of the most common indicators of development used in geography.

• Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
• Gross National Product (GNP)
• GNP per capita.
• Birth and death rates.
• The Human Development Index (HDI)
• Infant mortality rate.
• Literacy rate.
• Life expectancy.

Different methods, such as Gross National Product (GNP) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) can be employed to assess economic growth. Gross Domestic Product measures the value of goods and services produced by a nation.

Here is my list of the most commonly used measures of economic development:

• GNP per capita. [wbgnpmap] [gnppctab.htm]
• Population Growth [wrpopgr]
• Occupational Structure of the Labor Force [wraglab]
• Urbanization [wrurban]
• Consumption per capita. [wwenergy]
• Infrastructure [wwtrans]
• Social Conditions. literacy rate [wwlitrt]

Average income is a better measure to compare two countries income. Per capita income is the main criterion used by the World Bank in classifying different countries.

These measures are the Human Development Index, the Gender-related Development Index, the Gender Empowerment Measure, and the Human Poverty Index.

Yardsticks: Per Capita Income as One Measure of Economic Well-Being. As a society, we are enamored of numbers. This measure sums all of the available income streams (wages, farm incomes, proprietors’ income, rents, dividends, interest, retirement pensions, government medical payments, Social Security payments, etc.)

Gross Domestic Product (GDP) GDP is the most important and widely used macroeconomic indicator. GDP informs us about production and buying power of a country.

We can compare country or states on various subjects but the important subjects on which tey are compared are:

• Per Capital Income.
• Literacy Rate.
• Infant Mortality Rate.
• Net Attandance Ratio.
• Population.
• Cleanliness ( as in Swacch Sarvekhan Programme)
• Poverty Line.
• Pollution Level.

For comparison between countries, we consider the per capita income of each country. In World Development Report, countries are recognised as rich country and low-income country according to their per capita Income.

Below factors are considered for comparing countries .

• Per capita income.
• Health status.
• Educational Facilities.
• Poverty ratio.
• Sex ratio.
• Human development index (HDI) rank.

1 Answer. Use of averages to compare development: (i) Averages are used for better understanding. (iii) Different countries have different populations, so total income will not tell us what an average person is likely to earn.

It is an important criterion because it tells us what an average person is likely to earn and also gives some idea about the rising standard of living. Prosperity of a country depends not only on its national income but also on the number of people who would share it.

1 Answer. (i) Average income gives us an idea what an average person is likely to get out of the total national income. (ii) Average income is used to classify the countries into rich, poor or developing nations. (iii) Average income is used to make economic policies.

the World Bank

2 Answers. (i) Per capital income is the average income of a country. (ii) Per capital income criteria takes into account only the economic aspect of life and ignores the social, aspect of life. (iii) Per capita income criteria ignores education, health, life expectancy, sanitation etc.

1) It covers only economic expect of life ignoring social aspects such as health, education, etc. 2) It divides the country between rich countries and poor countries. 3) It doesn’t provide distribution of income between people.

Answer. No , Per capita income is not a true measure of the Development because:- 1) It only tells us about average income not how income is distributed among the people. 2) It only give us an idea of the economic aspect. 3) It is only at the Qualitative basis.

Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) It is calculated by dividing the area’s total income by its total population. Per capita income is national income divided by population size.

Since per capita income uses the overall income of a population and divides it by the total number of people, it doesn’t always provide an accurate representation of the standard of living. In other words, the data can be skewed, whereby it doesn’t account for income inequality.