Economic Growth & Development is one of 9 topics in the Grade 12 Economics CAPS syllabus, covered across 3 lessons on Study Vault. Below are real practice questions from this topic with full worked answers.
Sample practice questions
Easy
1. Economic growth is best defined as:
A sustained increase in the total volume of goods and services produced by an economy over time
A reduction in the unemployment rate only
An improvement in life expectancy only
A decrease in income inequality only
Answer: A sustained increase in the total volume of goods and services produced by an economy over time — Economic growth is a quantitative measure of increasing output, typically tracked as the percentage change in real GDP.
Easy
2. Compared to economic growth, economic development is best described as:
A broader concept that includes growth but also covers qualitative improvements in living standards, such as reduced poverty and improved health and education
Exactly the same thing as economic growth, with no meaningful difference
A concept that only applies to developed countries
A measure based purely on the exchange rate
Answer: A broader concept that includes growth but also covers qualitative improvements in living standards, such as reduced poverty and improved health and education — Development encompasses growth but goes further, including improvements in poverty, unemployment, inequality, education, health, and access to basic services.
Medium
3. What term describes a situation where GDP growth occurs but fails to translate into meaningful employment gains for the population?
Answer: Jobless growth — "Jobless growth" describes GDP growth (often capital-intensive) that does not generate a proportional increase in employment, so ordinary living standards may not improve even as aggregate output rises.
