IB Diploma Programme Economics

Component-based qualification

Source: official International Baccalaureate specification, verified 2026-08-28. This record is sourced from the full subject guide (economics-guide.pdf), originally accessed under a 2026-08-22 owner licensing confirmation. Figures below are read directly from that guide's own 'Assessment outline – SL' and 'Assessment outline – HL' tables (retrieved via the licensed PDF, cross-checked against the syllabus's assessment-objectives-to-component mapping in the same document). SL: Paper 1 (one extended-response question from a choice on micro- or macroeconomics, 75min, 25 marks, 30%, no calculator); Paper 2 (data-response question set on the global economy, 105min, 40 marks, 40%, calculator permitted); Internal Assessment (portfolio of three commentaries on published news extracts, no fixed sitting duration, 45 marks, 30%, internally assessed by the teacher and externally moderated by the IB). HL sits the same Paper 1 and Paper 2 (each re-weighted to 20%/30% of the HL total) plus an HL-only Paper 3 (structured, data-based policy paper drawing on the HL extension topics, 105min, 60 marks, 30%, calculator permitted), and the same portfolio Internal Assessment re-weighted to 20%. The IB publishes no numeric course code at DP level, so the course is listed as 'DP Economics'. First assessed 2022 per the guide's own title page. This is one of only two IB DP subjects (with Physics) originally sourced from the full guide under that 2026-08-22 confirmation; a separate owner decision, also 2026-09-05, retired the licensing framing entirely – no formal IB license is claimed or required – and, independently, IB's own freely public specimen exam papers (real, printed mark totals, published separately from the paid subject guides) are a sufficient primary source when paired with the free subject brief, so this licensing route is no longer the only path to a complete record.