The Cambridge IGCSE Economics syllabus was created especially for international students, using international  examples and cases studies, rather than focusing mostly on British examples. The Cambridge IGCSE Economics course is comparable to a standard GCSE in the UK and is accepted as equivalent to UK GCSEs by leading universities worldwide. Upon successful completion of the IGCSE Economics course, students will have a good foundation to study either Economics or Business Management, or both, at IB level.

Aims and learning outcomes

The Economics course is designed to encourage students to:

• Know and understand economic terminology, concepts and theories, in order to be economically literate.
• Use basic economic numeracy and interpret economic data.
• Use the tools of economic analysis.
• Express economic ideas logically and clearly in a written form.
  Apply economic understanding to current economic issues in our daily lives.

Syllabus summary

Unit 1: The basic economic problem

Unit 1 focuses on the essential economic questions of What to produce? How to produce? and for Whom to produce?, the economic factors of production, choices, scarcity, opportunity costs and production possibility curves. Students will gain an understanding of the essential mechanics that work together to create an economy.

Unit 2: The allocation of resources

Unit 2 focuses on the allocation of resources through the price mechanism in a market
economy. The market forces of demand and supply, market equilibrium and disequilibrium, and elasticity form the core of this section. Students will analyse graphs, and evaluate the effect of different factors on price, and quantity.

Unit 3: Microeconomics decision makers

Unit 3 focuses on the major microeconomic factors. Students will investigate the importance of banks, households, workers and firms. They will evaluate the role of trade unions, classify the size of firms, evaluate firm costs and revenues and analyse the characteristics of different market structures. 

Unit 4: Government and the macroeconomy

Unit 4 focuses on governments and their different macroeconomic aims, and conflicts often arise between the choice of measures used to achieve them. Variables must be measured to consider the causes and consequences of change, and appropriate policies applied.

Unit 5: Economic development

Unit 5 investigates how there will be changes in population, living standards, poverty and income redistribution as an economy develops. Therefore, the effects of changes in the size and structure of population and of other influences on development in a variety of countries are explored.

Unit 6: International trade and globalisation

Unit 6 focuses on the importance of trade between countries and the growth of globalisation is explored. Principles such as specialisation, the role of free trade, the role of multinational companies, foreign exchange rates and balance of payments stability are considered.

Assessment overview

The Student Perspective

"A study of IGCSE Economics will help you to develop many many life skills. You will develop your critical thinking and analytical skills. You will be able to draw up conclusions from data in order to make informed decisions. You will also be able to form your own educated opinions on global issues. Economics will also enhance your problem-solving skills. It can be a complex subject at times. Therefore, by looking at case studies, you'll learn some problem-solving techniques that will help you in other subjects and future careers. Personally, I also noticed a huge improvement in my confidence when writing. I found that the writing techniques I learned in Economics could be applied to my other subject and therefore made writing essays and evaluations much easier. Lastly, economics will improve your cultural and global awareness. It will give you an understanding of how the world around you and your role as an individual and how it affects the economy. You will also be able to gain a better understanding of current global issues. 

Economics was the kind of subject that I enjoyed studying. For someone with a curious mind, it is the perfect subject. With so many different ideas to explore it is extremely interesting. Despite Economics having its challenges, it is truly a rewarding subject. It is both enjoyable and useful in building new skills. 

I hope that my personal experiences with the subject gave you an insight into IGCSE Economics and I hope that those of you who decide to study Economics will enjoy it just as much as I did."

Hoda Choucri

"Economics is unique in its approaches and its goals, making it enjoyable and gratifying to explore and learn. The subject concerns itself with the study of human behaviour as societies develop strategies to overcome the basic economic problem of scarcity and attempts to explain human actions with logic, mathematics and psychology. Since there is more than one perspective on any economic issue, this subject offers us the opportunity to develop alternative solutions to problems.

These aspects of economics, in addition to its incredible usefulness in the modern world, have allowed me to grow on a personal level and also to develop a strong passion for the subject, which I can only hope others will manage to enjoy too."

Selim Gaddas