The Development Gap

The Development Gap:Development means the ways in which a country seeks to develop economically and to improve the standard of living for its inhabitants. The development gap describes the differences in level of development between the world's richest and poorest countries. It also occurs within countries, between regions. The geography of the development gap is more complicated than the north-south divide. Latin America has HDI levels similar to eastern Europe. China's HDI and some others in SE Asia are relatively high South Asia has a concentration level of below 0.6 Levels in the Middle East are relatively high although not in Yemen, Syria and Iraq The picture of Africa is very complex with the extreme north and south having decent HDI levels but some regions having shockingly low levels

Measuring Development: GDP Political Stability Women employment Crime levels Economic activity Calories per person per day Death/birth rates Life expectancy Ratio of doctors per person Electricity consumption No. of computers per person (telephones/TVs) Water access Standard of water pipes Age range of education % of higher education graduates Average income

Purchasing Power Parity:The difference in how much goods and services really cost is why PPP GDP income is used rather than only raw GDP. E.g. One country may only earn £5000 but they can get the same as what we can with £10,000. PPP makes things equal so we can compare them.An economic theory that estimates the amount of adjustment needed on the exchange rate between countries in order for the exchange to be equivalent to each currency's purchasing power. Purchasing power parity is used worldwide to compare the income levels of different countries.*like the Aldi advert where it shows what you can get in Aldi for £20 compared to what you can get in Tesco for £20*