Numbeo and economic data

Numbeo is a new online database that helps make international comparisons in order to compare living standards. It shows data by city and country on crime rates, pollution, health care, property prices and other key indicators. Much like Wikipedia, data is entered by its various users in different cities around the world.It's worth a look as a useful resource when teaching the pros and cons of economic growth or the limitations of using national income accounts as a measure of living standards. It's also useful when looking at the barriers to economic development.

Some interesting snippets:

Milton Keynes is in the top 30 most dangerous places to live in terms of crime; Caracas is the most expensive place in the world to buy men's shoes; consumers in Switzerland have the greatest purchasing power; and Mumbai in India officially has the world's slowest traffic.

There are also more qualitative measures around international comparisons: Panama has the world's best quality healthcare and Azerbaijan the worst.

Numbeo includes data on property prices by city, as well as differences in the overall cost of living. There is even a taxi fare calculator in case you use it to pick an out of the way place for that half term break and need a cab from the airport when you arrive [cheaper in La Paz than Luanda...]

This is a great way to get students to put together country profiles by choosing different indicators of economic development [a feature of the OCR A level, Cambridge IGCSE and IB specifications]. IB students might also find Numbeo helpful when putting together secondary research for an extended essay.