The Supply Curve — Supply | IGCSE Economics

Exam Frequency Analysis

Past paper frequency (2018 to 2024)

This topic accounts for approximately 18% of your exam marks.

stable

Very High

Stable18%

Supply appears alongside demand on virtually every paper; cost changes, technology, and taxes/subsidies are the most tested supply shifters.

Supply curve: upward-sloping price-quantity relationship; movement along it shows contraction and extension

A supply curve plots the quantity of a good producers will offer (horizontal axis) against the price (vertical axis). It slopes upward from lower-left to upper-right, the opposite direction to the demand curve. IGCSE diagrams use straight lines for ease.

Standard layout on every supply-curve diagram:

Vertical axis: price (in £ or $ per unit).
Horizontal axis: quantity supplied per period (units per week, per month).
Curve label: S for the supply curve. Shifts to S₁ (left, less supplied) or S₂ (right, more supplied) when conditions of supply change.