Subjects · Leaving Cert Economics
Leaving Cert Economics: Demand, supply & equilibrium
How often Demand, supply & equilibrium comes up on the Economics papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.
HL Asked on 5 of the last 5 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker
OL Asked on 5 of the last 5 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker
Quick ones on Demand, supply & equilibrium.
- A shift of the demand curve to the right
- A movement down along the demand curve
- A shift of the supply curve to the left
- Does not change at all
- Rises: its demand curve shifts right
- Falls: its demand curve shifts left
- Shift the demand for margarine to the right
- Shift the supply of margarine to the left
- Shift the demand for margarine to the left
Show the answers
(a) A movement down along the demand curve
(b) Falls: its demand curve shifts left
(c) Shift the demand for margarine to the right
Higher Level
Asked on 5 of the last 5 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker
Every paper, year by year
| Year | Where it came up |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Q14 |
| 2024 | Q5, Q11 |
| 2023 | Q1, Q7, Q16 |
| 2022 | Q1, Q15 |
| 2021 | Q13 |
Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.
More Demand, supply & equilibrium questions
Demand, supply & equilibrium, 3 marks
Consumer incomes rise. What happens to demand for an inferior good?
- It shifts to the right
- Nothing: only a price change can shift it
- It shifts to the left
Show the answer
It shifts to the left
For an inferior good (e.g. basic own-brand items) demand falls as income rises, since buyers switch to better alternatives. For a normal good demand shifts right.
Demand, supply & equilibrium, 3 marks
At a price above equilibrium, what do market forces do?
- Keep the price there permanently
- Push the price down as sellers cut prices to clear stock
- Push the price up as buyers compete for goods
Show the answer
Push the price down as sellers cut prices to clear stock
Above equilibrium, quantity supplied exceeds quantity demanded. Sellers with unsold stock cut prices until the surplus disappears at the equilibrium price.
Demand, supply & equilibrium, 3 marks
Which would shift the supply curve of Irish beef to the right?
- A cheaper feed that raises yields per animal
- A rise in the market price of Irish beef
- A fall in consumer incomes, so less beef is bought
Show the answer
A cheaper feed that raises yields per animal
Lower costs or better productivity shift supply right. A change in beef's own price causes a movement along supply; incomes affect demand, not supply.
Ordinary Level
Asked on 5 of the last 5 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2025. banker
Every paper, year by year
| Year | Where it came up |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Q9, Q10, Q15 |
| 2024 | Q10, Q15 |
| 2023 | Q5, Q14, Q15 |
| 2022 | Q3, Q4, Q12 |
| 2021 | Q5, Q8, Q15 |
Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.
More Demand, supply & equilibrium questions
Demand, supply & equilibrium, 2 marks
The law of demand states that as the price of a good rises?
- Quantity demanded rises
- Supply falls
- Quantity demanded falls
Show the answer
Quantity demanded falls
Other things being equal, a higher price makes a good less affordable and substitutes look cheaper, so people buy less of it. This is why the demand curve slopes down.
Demand, supply & equilibrium, 3 marks
A change in the good's own price causes?
- A shift of the demand curve to the left
- A movement along the demand curve
- A shift of the demand curve to the right
Show the answer
A movement along the demand curve
A change in the good's own price moves you along the curve. Other factors, like income, tastes or the price of related goods, shift the whole curve.
Demand, supply & equilibrium, 2 marks
Tea and coffee are examples of?
- Substitutes
- Complements
- Free goods
Show the answer
Substitutes
Substitutes can be used in place of each other. If the price of coffee rises, some people switch to tea, so the demand for tea rises.
Other Economics topics
- Budget, fiscal policy & debt
- Business cycles & economic aims
- Circular flow & multiplier
- Cost-benefit analysis
- Elasticity of demand
- Factors of production
- Government intervention in markets
- Inflation & the CPI
- Market failure & externalities
- Monopoly & price discrimination
- Sustainable development
- Taxation
- The labour market
- Trade & comparative advantage
- Competition policy & HHI
- Competitiveness & exchange rates
- Consumer behaviour & utility
- Costs, revenue & profit
- Globalisation, MNCs & FDI
- Growth, development & aid
- Inequality & poverty
- Labour force & unemployment
- Monetary policy & the ECB
- National income measures
- Scarcity & opportunity cost
- The EU & global institutions
- Balance of payments
- Banking & the Central Bank
- Economic thinking & data
- The hidden economy
- Economies & diseconomies of scale
- Monopolistic competition
- Oligopoly
- Perfect competition