Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460): Theme 3.1 – Development – Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs – examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers from your board or school.

These questions cover topic 3.1 Development in Theme 3 (Economic development) of the Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026, Version 2 (published November 2022). The syllabus says Paper 1 (Geographical Themes) combines resource-based tasks and free-response writing requiring place-specific information, and Paper 2 (Geographical Skills) tests the application, interpretation and analysis of geographical information such as tables of data. All countries, regions, towns and companies in the data questions are fictional, and the data are invented.

Revise first with the Development study guide and the Development revision notes. The IGCSE Geography hub and the 0460 topic checklist show the rest of the course. For more data practice on Theme 1, try the Population and Settlement practice set.

Questions

1. Define the term “GNP per capita”. [2]

2. Give two social indicators of development. For each one, state whether a high value suggests a higher or a lower level of development. [4]

3. The table shows development data for five fictional countries.

Country	GNP per capita (US$)	Life expectancy (years)	Adult literacy (%)	HDI
Aldoria	42,000	82	99	0.95
Brevania	18,500	64	62	0.69
Corwen	6,200	74	94	0.79
Dalmir	1,900	63	61	0.56
Estrel	850	58	38	0.42

(a) Identify the country with the lowest life expectancy. [1] (b) Calculate how many times greater Aldoria’s GNP per capita is than Estrel’s. Give your answer to one decimal place. [2] (c) Compare the development of Brevania and Corwen, using data from the table. [3] (d) Suggest reasons why Brevania has a higher GNP per capita but a lower HDI than Corwen. [4]

4. State the sector of production (primary, secondary, tertiary or quaternary) for each of these jobs:

• a person working on a fishing boat
• a worker in a fish-canning factory
• a programmer designing new banking software
• a hotel receptionist [4]

5. The table shows the employment structure of a fictional country, Tamsara.

Year	Primary (%)	Secondary (%)	Tertiary (%)	Quaternary (%)
1975	68	12	19	1
2000	45	27	26	2
2025	22	30	43	5

(a) Calculate the change in the percentage of workers in the primary sector between 1975 and 2025. [1] (b) Describe the changes in Tamsara’s employment structure between 1975 and 2025. [4] (c) Explain why the percentage of Tamsara’s workers in the secondary sector may fall in the future. [3]

6. Compare the Human Development Index (HDI) and GNP per capita as indicators of a country’s level of development. Justify which you think is the better indicator. [8]

7. The table shows data for two regions of a fictional country, Varnia. The Coastal Region contains the capital city and the main port. The Inland Region is mountainous.

Indicator	Coastal Region	Inland Region
GNP per capita (US$)	14,200	3,550
Households with piped water (%)	96	58
Doctors per 10,000 people	31	6
Workers employed in farming (%)	8	61

(a) Compare the level of development of the two regions. [3] (b) Suggest reasons for the differences between the two regions. [5]

8. Explain how developments in technology have helped the process of globalisation. [4]

9. Read the fictional news extract.

Halvex Electronics, a transnational corporation with its headquarters in a high-income country, will open a phone assembly factory employing 3,000 people outside the town of Morrin. Morrin is in a lower-income country, and most local families farm rice. The factory site is on rice fields beside the Morrin River. The government has offered Halvex five years without company tax.

Suggest the advantages and disadvantages of the new factory for people living in and around Morrin. [6]

10. The table shows the number of phones assembled by Halvex Electronics in one year.

Location	Phones assembled (millions)
Country P	4.2
Country Q	2.8
Country R	1.4
Country S	0.6

(a) Calculate the percentage of Halvex’s phones that were assembled in Country P. Give your answer to one decimal place. [2] (b) Suggest two reasons why Halvex assembles its phones in several countries rather than in just one. [4]

11. For a named transnational corporation (TNC) you have studied, describe its global links and explain why its activities are located in different countries. [9]

12. Explain the benefits and problems that globalisation brings to countries at a low level of development. Use examples, and justify whether you think the benefits outweigh the problems. [10]

Answers

1. The total value of goods and services produced by a country’s people and businesses in a year, including income earned abroad [1], divided by the country’s population, so it is an average per person [1]. [2] Examiner insight: A definition of GNP without “divided by population” or “per person” gets only half the marks, because “per capita” is the point being tested.

2. Adult literacy rate [1]: a high value suggests a higher level of development [1]. Infant mortality rate [1]: a high value suggests a lower level of development [1]. Also credit life expectancy, doctors per 1,000 people or access to clean water (high = more developed for each). [4] Examiner insight: GNP per capita is an economic indicator, so giving it here as a “social” indicator earns nothing even if the direction is right.

3. (a) Estrel [1]. [1] (b) 42,000 ÷ 850 [1] = 49.4 times [1]. [2] (c) Brevania’s GNP per capita is about three times Corwen’s, 18,500 compared with 6,200 US dollars [1]. However, Corwen has a higher life expectancy, 74 years compared with 64 [1], and much higher adult literacy, 94% compared with 62%, giving it a higher HDI of 0.79 compared with 0.69 [1]. [3] (d) Brevania’s income may come from exporting one resource such as oil, which raises GNP without helping most people [1]. Its wealth may be shared very unequally, with a small rich group raising the average [1]. The government may spend little on schools and health care, so literacy and life expectancy stay low [1]. Corwen may spend more of its smaller income on schools and clinics [1]. [4] Examiner insight: In “compare” questions, each mark needs both countries and a linking word such as “whereas”; two separate descriptions are not a comparison.

4. Fishing boat worker: primary [1]. Fish-canning factory worker: secondary [1]. Banking software programmer: quaternary [1]. Hotel receptionist: tertiary [1]. [4] Examiner insight: Ask whether the person extracts, makes, serves or researches; processing food in a factory is secondary even though the raw material came from the sea.

5. (a) It fell by 46 percentage points (from 68% to 22%) [1]. [1] (b) The primary sector fell sharply, from 68% to 22% [1]. The secondary sector grew from 12% to 30%, rising quickly to 2000 and more slowly afterwards [1]. The tertiary sector more than doubled, from 19% to 43%, and became the largest sector by 2025 [1]. The quaternary sector grew from 1% to 5% [1]. [4] (c) Factories may introduce automation and robots, so fewer workers are needed [1]. As wages in Tamsara rise, manufacturers may move production to countries with cheaper labour [1]. Rising incomes increase demand for services such as health, education and leisure, so more people move into tertiary jobs [1]. [3] Examiner insight: “Describe” marks need figures with years quoted for each sector; saying “primary went down and tertiary went up” with no numbers usually earns very little.

6. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point. Indicative creditworthy content:

GNP per capita measures only average income per person [1]. It hides how unevenly income is shared and leaves out informal and subsistence work [1]. The HDI combines three dimensions: life expectancy, years of schooling and GNI per capita [1]. So a country rich from oil but with poor schooling scores lower on the HDI than its income suggests [1]. However, the HDI is still a national average, so it hides gaps between regions and between men and women [1]. UNDP itself says the HDI does not reflect inequality, poverty, human security or empowerment [1]. In poorer or conflict-hit countries, data for both may be estimated or out of date [1]. Judgement: the HDI is a better indicator because it covers health and education as well as income, but it works best alongside other indicators and regional data [1]. [8] Examiner insight: “Justify” answers need a clear judgement backed by the weaknesses of both measures; listing the HDI’s three parts with no evaluation stays in the lower levels.

7. (a) GNP per capita in the Coastal Region is four times that of the Inland Region, 14,200 compared with 3,550 US dollars [1]. A much higher share of coastal households has piped water, 96% compared with 58% [1]. The Coastal Region has 25 more doctors per 10,000 people, and far fewer workers in farming, 8% compared with 61% [1]. [3] (b) The port allows trade, so factories and foreign investment locate on the coast [1]. The capital city has government offices and services, which create well-paid tertiary jobs [1]. The Inland Region is mountainous, so roads are poor and it is costly to build pipes, clinics and schools [1]. Most inland workers are farmers, often on small or subsistence farms with low incomes [1]. Young people migrate to the coast for work, so the inland region loses workers and tax income and falls further behind [1]. [5] Examiner insight: For “suggest” questions about a resource, use the clues printed in the stem (port, capital, mountainous); answers that ignore them read as general and score lower.

8. Container ships cut the cost of moving goods long distances [1], so firms can make products in one continent and sell them in another [1]. The internet and video calls let a headquarters manage factories abroad in real time [1]. Jet aircraft move managers, engineers and high-value goods quickly between countries [1]. [4] Examiner insight: “Explain how” needs the link from the technology to the global connection; naming “the internet” alone gets at most one mark.

9. Advantages: 3,000 people gain regular wages rather than seasonal farm income [1]; workers learn new skills that can lead to better jobs [1]; local shops, transport and food sellers gain more customers through the multiplier effect [1]. Disadvantages: farmers lose rice fields, which reduces local food supply and farm income [1]; waste from the factory may pollute the Morrin River, harming fishing and water supply [1]; the tax holiday means the government earns little from the factory for five years to spend on local services [1]. [6] Examiner insight: Balanced “advantages and disadvantages” questions are capped if only one side is covered, so aim for roughly equal points on each side.

10. (a) Total = 4.2 + 2.8 + 1.4 + 0.6 = 9.0 million [1]; 4.2 ÷ 9.0 × 100 = 46.7% [1]. [2] (b) To lower costs, because wages and land are cheaper in some countries [1], so labour-intensive assembly is cheaper there than in the home country [1]. To reduce risk, because a disaster or strike in one country would not stop all production [1], as work can move between factories [1]. [4] Examiner insight: When asked for two developed reasons, each needs a reason and a development; four short undeveloped reasons usually earn only two marks.

11. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point. This model uses Nike; any well-supported TNC is acceptable.

Nike’s global headquarters is near Beaverton, Oregon, USA, where about 10,600 staff work in design, research, marketing and finance [1]. Regional headquarters are in Hilversum in the Netherlands and Shanghai in China [1]. Nike does not make most of its products; independent contract manufacturers do [1]. In the year to May 2026, factories in Vietnam, Indonesia and China made about 52%, 27% and 16% of Nike Brand footwear [1]. Clothing came from 321 factories in 34 countries [1]. Distribution centres such as Memphis (USA), Laakdal (Belgium) and Taicang (China) serve world markets, and about 56% of revenue came from outside the USA [1]. Factories are in Asia because wages are lower and large workforces skilled in assembly are available [1]. Design and research stay in the USA, where educated workers and research facilities are, because these activities earn the most profit [1]. Container shipping and digital communication link these activities across continents [1]. [9] Examiner insight: Case study answers rise through the levels with named places and figures; “Nike makes shoes in Asia because labour is cheap” stays at the bottom.

12. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point. Indicative creditworthy content:

TNC investment creates factory jobs with regular wages, such as Nike’s contract footwear factories in Vietnam and Indonesia [1]. Exports earn foreign currency and governments gain some tax income [1]. Workers gain skills and countries gain technology [1]. Global trade and lower tariffs open large markets for the country’s goods [1]. However, wages can be low and conditions poor, as shown by criticism of Nike’s contractor factories in the 1990s [1]. Profits often go back to the TNC’s home country, so less money stays in the poorer country [1]. Countries can become dependent on a few foreign firms, which may move to cheaper locations if costs rise [1]. Small local businesses can be forced to close by foreign competition [1]. Benefits are uneven: cities gain more than rural areas, and the poorest countries attract little investment [1]. Judgement: the benefits are real but uneven, so whether they outweigh the problems depends on government policy, worker protection and the time scale [1]. [10] Examiner insight: When asked to justify a view, you need a stated judgement supported by evidence on both sides; a list of advantages with no judgement cannot reach the top level.

Where marks are usually lost

• Quoting data without units or years, e.g. “68 to 22” with no “%” or dates.
• Describing a trend when the question says “explain”, or giving reasons when it says “describe”.
• Writing a “compare” answer as two separate descriptions with no comparing words.
• Putting factory jobs such as food processing or construction in the primary sector.
• Saying the HDI uses literacy, rather than years of schooling.
• Giving only advantages, or only one scale, when the question asks for both sides or for local, national and global impacts.
• Using a TNC case study with no named countries, figures or links between headquarters, factories and markets.
• Ending an extended answer with no justified judgement when the question says “justify”.

Next steps

• Re-read the Development study guide for any question you found hard.
• Use the Development revision notes for a quick self-test before a mock.
• Find your gaps across subjects with our diagnostics.
• Want help from a teacher? Book a free trial class.

Official syllabus

Cambridge IGCSE Geography (0460) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026, Version 2 (published November 2022), Theme 3: Economic development, topic 3.1 Development.