Economics

Overview

The HKDSE Economics curriculum develops economic literacy through the study of human behaviour, resource allocation, and market operations in local, national, and global contexts. Building on junior secondary Personal, Social and Humanities Education (PSHE), it combines fundamental economic concepts with practical enquiry and real-world applications, preparing students for further study, professional careers, and informed decision-making in a dynamic global economy.

Curriculum Goals

Phase	Curriculum Goals
Junior Secondary (Grade 9)	Introduce foundational concepts through everyday consumer choices and practical economic contexts. Build early analytical, quantitative, and diagrammatic capabilities by examining market price mechanisms, disequilibrium, and economic indicators using real-life scenarios. Cultivate economic literacy, awareness of scarcity and opportunity cost, and an understanding of how production factors and economic goods impact local society. Foster critical thinking, communication, and collaborative enquiry through analyzing market demand and supply shifts, inflation rates, and unemployment rates.
Senior Secondary	Understand scarcity, choice, opportunity cost, firms, production, and market price determination through demand and supply analysis. Study market structures, resource allocation efficiency, equity, income inequality, and government policy interventions. Apply macroeconomic models to analyse national income, aggregate demand and supply, inflation, and unemployment fluctuations. Explore money, banking, fiscal and monetary policies, comparative advantage, and international trade dynamics. Use economic language, quantitative tools, data, and diagrams to solve problems and explain contemporary economic issues

Phase

Curriculum Goals

Junior Secondary
(Grade 9)

Introduce foundational concepts through everyday consumer choices and practical economic contexts.
Build early analytical, quantitative, and diagrammatic capabilities by examining market price mechanisms, disequilibrium, and economic indicators using real-life scenarios.
Cultivate economic literacy, awareness of scarcity and opportunity cost, and an understanding of how production factors and economic goods impact local society.
Foster critical thinking, communication, and collaborative enquiry through analyzing market demand and supply shifts, inflation rates, and unemployment rates.

Senior Secondary

Understand scarcity, choice, opportunity cost, firms, production, and market price determination through demand and supply analysis.
Study market structures, resource allocation efficiency, equity, income inequality, and government policy interventions.
Apply macroeconomic models to analyse national income, aggregate demand and supply, inflation, and unemployment fluctuations.
Explore money, banking, fiscal and monetary policies, comparative advantage, and international trade dynamics.
Use economic language, quantitative tools, data, and diagrams to solve problems and explain contemporary economic issues

Subject Highlights

The curriculum places a strong emphasis on connecting theoretical concepts with both authentic real-life contexts and illustrative hypothetical scenarios. Through issue-based enquiry, data interpretation, and case analysis, students develop essential skills in constructing rigorous logical chains of reasoning to trace cause-and-effect relationships and evaluate policy proposals from multiple perspectives. This structured analytical approach sharpens critical thinking, enhances evidence-based discussion, and empowers students to make well-reasoned choices as informed decision-makers and responsible citizens.