Q.Define Economic Development.

Economic development is economic growth plus qualitative improvements in living standards - better education, health, lower poverty and inequality, and structural change. It is 'growth with welfare', not just a rise in output.

This is a 2-mark short note in AP Intermediate 2nd year Economics, treated in line with the NCERT/CBSE understanding of growth versus development.

Meaning. Economic development refers to a process in which the real national income and per capita income of a country rise over a long period, accompanied by improvements in the standard of living and quality of life of the people. Unlike economic growth, which refers only to a quantitative increase in output, development also includes qualitative changes such as better education and health, reduction of poverty and inequality, rise in employment, and structural changes in the economy (for example, a shift from agriculture to industry and services). Thus economic development is often described as "economic growth plus progressive welfare changes."

Economic development is growth with improvement — a lasting rise in real national and per-capita income together with better living standards, less poverty and inequality, and structural change in the economy. It is broader than economic growth, which counts only the rise in output. This is an AP Intermediate 2nd-year Economics basic concept.

Economic development refers to a process by which a country's real national income and per-capita income increase over a long period, along with qualitative improvements in the standard of living and well-being of its people. Unlike economic growth, which measures only the quantitative increase in output or income, economic development also includes:

1. A sustained rise in real national and per-capita income.
2. Improvement in the living standards of the people — better food, health, education and housing.
3. Reduction of poverty, unemployment and inequality.
4. Structural changes, such as a shift of the workforce and output from agriculture toward industry and services.
5. Better use of resources and advances in technology.

Thus development is growth plus progress — it is both more goods and a better quality of life.