What Is IB Economics? SL vs HL, Compared Topic by Topic

IB Economics is a Group 3 (Individuals and Societies) subject in the IB Diploma that studies how individuals, firms and governments make choices about scarce resources. It is offered at Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL).

Both levels study the same four units: Introduction to economics, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and The global economy. HL goes further, with extra topics, more calculations, a third exam paper and 240 recommended teaching hours against 150 at SL. The current syllabus was first examined in May 2022 and is the syllabus for the November 2026 and May 2027 sessions.

The IB frames the course around six real-world questions:

• How do consumers and producers make choices in trying to meet their economic objectives?
• When are markets unable to satisfy important economic objectives, and does government intervention help?
• Why does economic activity vary over time, and why does this matter?
• How do governments manage their economy, and how effective are their policies?
• Who are the winners and losers of the integration of the world's economies?
• Why is economic development uneven?

SL and HL share the same four units, Paper 1, Paper 2 and the Internal Assessment. HL adds four HL-only topics, extra material and calculations in Units 2 to 4, Paper 3 and 90 more teaching hours.

More students worldwide take HL than SL. The next section shows exactly which topics HL adds, unit by unit, straight from the IB Economics guide.

Unit 1 is identical at both levels. In Units 2 to 4, most topics are shared, but HL adds extra sub-topics, diagrams and calculations, and four microeconomics topics are HL-only.

The table below follows the numbering in the IB Economics guide (first assessment 2022). A tick means the topic is examined at that level. Where HL studies a shared topic in more depth, the extra material is listed as "HL adds".

Unit 1: Introduction to economics

10 hours at SL, 10 hours at HL. No HL-only content. Unit 1 also cannot be used for an IA commentary.

Unit 2: Microeconomics

35 hours at SL, 70 hours at HL. HL doubles the time here. Four whole topics are HL-only.

Unit 3: Macroeconomics

40 hours at SL, 75 hours at HL. Every topic is shared, but HL adds the money market, the multiplier and the Phillips curve.

Unit 4: The global economy

45 hours at SL, 65 hours at HL. HL adds comparative advantage, trade calculations and a deeper treatment of the balance of payments.

SL is assessed by two exam papers and the IA. HL sits the same two papers plus Paper 3, so each component carries a smaller share of the final grade.

The practical effect: at SL, the IA and Paper 2 together make up 70% of the grade, so coursework and data response matter most. At HL, the three exams carry 80%, and Paper 3's calculations become as important as the essays.

Take HL if economics is central to your plans and you have room for it among your three HL subjects. Take SL if your HL slots belong to other subjects and you want a strong foundation without the extra load.

Is it easier to get a 7 at SL or HL?

Not in the way the numbers first suggest. In May 2024, 15.0% of HL candidates scored a 7 against 14.1% at SL, and the HL mean grade (5.1) was higher than SL's (4.8). The likely reason is who takes each level: HL students are more often the ones committed to the subject. Pick the level that fits your plans, not the one that looks easier on paper.

Can I change level later?

Usually, but your school sets the rules and deadlines. Moving from HL to SL is generally simpler than the reverse, because SL content is a subset of HL. Moving up means catching up on the HL-only material above, so decide early and speak to your DP coordinator before the end of the first year.

University requirements

Requirements differ by university and by course, and some courses set their own mathematics requirements on top. Check each programme's published subject requirements before you commit. Our guide to IB requirements for Singapore universities summarises what NUS, NTU and SMU publish.

Most Singapore IB schools sit the May session. The May 2027 session runs from 27 April to 19 May 2027, and the Economics papers fall in the same week.

HL students sit Paper 1 and Paper 3 back to back in a single morning, three hours of continuous writing, so practise that sequence at least twice. If your school runs the November session, your dates are different: see the full IB exam calendar and confirm your timetable with your DP coordinator.

Choose 1 of 3 questions. Part (a), worth 10 marks, explains or analyses with a diagram. Part (b), worth 15 marks, evaluates and ends with a judgement. The paper is the same at SL and HL.

• Part (a), 10 marks: clear definitions, at least one accurate, labelled diagram and a logical chain of reasoning.
• Part (b), 15 marks: two-sided, built on relevant real-world examples, and finished with a conclusion that makes a judgement.

You have 1 hour 15 minutes and no calculator. A good split: 5 minutes to plan, 25 minutes on part (a), 40 minutes on part (b), 5 minutes to review. Part (b) carries 60% of the marks, so a long part (a) that eats 40 minutes is the most common way strong students lose marks.

The top markbands for part (b) need a named country, policy or event, not a hypothetical. The Singapore examples bank further down gives you a set to start from. We teach this paper with the KS Academia Prep Economics Essay Framework: definitions, diagram, analysis, evaluation, real-world application and a final judgement, sized to fit 75 minutes.

In part (g). It is worth 15 of the 40 marks, and it needs evidence from the text, not a general essay.

Students who keep the short parts tight and leave real time for (g) tend to outperform students who write the same amount for every part. The skill most students lack is not knowledge but connecting theory to the specific data in front of them: quoting figures, naming the country or policy in the extract, and using that as evidence.

Paper 3 is HL's policy paper: two compulsory 30-mark questions built on data, each ending in a policy recommendation. It is worth 30% of the HL grade.

• Part (a), 20 marks, in several sub-parts: calculations from the data, diagrams drawn from numbers, and explanations using theory.
• Part (b), 10 marks: a policy recommendation, justified with the data and economic theory.

Typical calculations come straight from the HL-only material in the topic tables above: the effect of a tax, subsidy or tariff on revenue and welfare, profit and marginal revenue, the Keynesian multiplier, a weighted price index, average tax rates, and a Lorenz curve from income data. Students comfortable with numbers often find it the most predictable paper, because the calculation parts have clear right answers. The recommendation is where marks slip: it needs a clear position, reasons tied to the data and an honest look at the trade-offs.

The IA is a portfolio of three commentaries, up to 800 words each, on news articles from three different units. It is the same task at both levels, but worth 30% at SL and 20% at HL.

The best articles are recent, focused on one specific policy or event, contain data you can use, and connect clearly to two or three syllabus concepts. Our full IB Economics IA guide covers article selection, structure and the most common mistakes. We review every IA draft through at least two rounds of feedback per commentary. Ask about IA support.

The Extended Essay is an independent research essay of up to 4,000 words that every Diploma student writes, and Economics is one of the subjects it can be written in. From May 2027 it is marked out of 30 instead of 34.

The IB launched the new Extended Essay guide in February 2025, for first assessment in May 2027. Students sitting the November 2026 session are still on the previous model. The new model has five criteria:

How the EE differs from the IA

Singapore research questions that work

An Economics EE succeeds or fails on its research question. Strong questions are narrow, answerable with data you can collect, and tied to specific theory. Singapore makes this easier than most places, because official data is published and markets are easy to observe:

• How did changes in ERP rates affect traffic volumes at a particular gantry?
• How did COE premiums respond to changes in the vehicle quota?
• How far were hawker food prices passed through after the GST increase to 9%?
• How have wages changed in a sector covered by the Progressive Wage Model?

Your school supervisor is your official EE supervisor. Our support works alongside that, within the IB's academic integrity rules: narrowing the question, planning data collection, checking the economics and keeping drafts on schedule. One of our students went on to score an A for their Economics Extended Essay, as their review below describes. Ask about EE support.

Singapore gives you specific, checkable examples for most of the syllabus. Use them in Paper 1 part (b), Paper 2 part (g) and your IA, where named, real policies are needed for the top markbands.

There is no fixed percentage. The IB sets grade boundaries after every session, and your final grade combines your exam papers with your moderated IA mark.

Scarcity, choice, efficiency, equity, economic well-being, sustainability, change, interdependence and intervention. They matter most in the IA, where each commentary must use a different one.

IB Economics is the only one of the three with coursework, and it places the most weight on evaluation and real-world application.

Build a diagram bank, keep a Singapore and world example for every sub-topic, train evaluation as its own skill, and mark your past papers against the official markscheme.

Most students can write essays every week. What they lack is someone showing them exactly where the evaluation breaks down or where a diagram label costs marks. Outside lessons, Study Supervision turns weekly practice, diagram drilling and IA drafting into a tracked habit rather than something that happens the night before a deadline.

IB Economics is taught across Singapore's IB World Schools, and it needs no prior study of economics.

Schools offering it include UWCSEA (Dover and East), ACS (Independent), SJI International, Tanglin Trust School, Canadian International School, Dulwich College and the German European School. Students choose it to prepare for degrees in Economics, PPE, Business, Finance, Law and Public Policy, and for the analytical writing and data skills it builds.

Use a textbook written for the current syllabus, first examined in 2022. Oxford and Pearson both publish one.

Older books, including the 2012 edition of Tragakes' Economics for the IB Diploma, explain theory clearly but predate the current syllabus, so use them for extra explanation rather than to decide what is examined.

• The IB Economics guide: your school's copy is the definitive list of what can be examined at SL and HL.
• Past papers, markschemes and subject reports: the subject reports explain what examiners rewarded and penalised.
• News: The Straits Times, CNA and The Business Times for Singapore examples and IA articles.
• Official data: the Singapore Department of Statistics, MAS and the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

KS Academia Prep teaches IB Economics SL and HL at Far East Shopping Centre, #15-06, 545 Orchard Road, Singapore, led by Jason Low, Head of Economics, with Kirby Ng.

See our IB Economics classes and timetable.