Exam Frequency Analysis
Past paper frequency (2018 to 2024)
This topic accounts for approximately 10% of your exam marks.
stable
Medium
Stable10%
PPC diagram interpretation appears in roughly half of all Paper 2 sittings; outward shifts and opportunity cost from the diagram are the key mark points.
A PPC always has two axes. Each axis is the quantity of one good that the economy might produce. Common pairings:
- Capital goods on one axis, consumer goods on the other (the most common IGCSE pairing).
- Food vs clothing; agricultural goods vs manufactured goods; healthcare vs education.
The curve typically bows outward away from the origin. It starts where all resources go to good A (one extreme), ends where all resources go to good B (the other extreme), and passes through every efficient mix in between.
A reminder of two terms the syllabus uses on this diagram.
- Capital goods are man-made productive assets used to make other goods (machines, tools, factories). An industrial 3D-printer on a parts manufacturing line is a capital good.
- Consumer goods are final products bought to be enjoyed or used up (a watch, a smartphone, a pair of shoes). They have no further productive use.