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Subjects · Leaving Cert Economics

Leaving Cert Economics: Economic thinking & data

How often Economic thinking & data comes up on the Economics papers, every year it was asked, and questions to try.

HL Asked on 2 of the last 5 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025.

OL Asked on 3 of the last 5 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2024. most years

Economic thinking & data, Higher Level(7 marks)

Quick ones on Economic thinking & data.

(a)Which of these statements is normative?
  1. A 10% fare cut will raise passenger numbers
  2. The Government should cut public transport fares
  3. Bus fares rose by 5% last year
(b)Which Irish body collects and publishes the census, the CPI and the Labour Force Survey?
  1. Department of Public Expenditure
  2. Central Bank of Ireland (CBI)
  3. Central Statistics Office (CSO)
(c)An economist predicts a sugar tax will cut soft-drink sales by 8%. Sales actually fall 2%. Her statement was…
  1. Positive, because it can be tested against evidence
  2. Normative, because it contains a forecast
  3. Normative, because it turned out to be wrong
Show the answers

(a) The Government should cut public transport fares

(b) Central Statistics Office (CSO)

(c) Positive, because it can be tested against evidence

Your turn: Higher Level questions on Economic thinking & data.

Higher Level

Asked on 2 of the last 5 Higher Level papers, most recently in 2025.

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Q5
2024Not asked
2023Not asked
2022Not asked
2021Q2

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Economic thinking & data questions

Economic thinking & data, 3 marks

Why might two economists propose different solutions to the same housing shortage?

  1. One of them must have misread the data
  2. Economics allows only one correct answer
  3. They use different models and value judgements
Show the answer

They use different models and value judgements

Economists may weigh aims such as fairness and efficiency differently and rely on different models, so their advice can differ. Views also change as new events and evidence arrive.

Ordinary Level

Asked on 3 of the last 5 Ordinary Level papers, most recently in 2024. most years

Every paper, year by year

YearWhere it came up
2025Not asked
2024Q7
2023Not asked
2022Q2
2021Q2

Links open the State Examinations Commission’s paper for that year.

More Economic thinking & data questions

Economic thinking & data, 3 marks

Which statement is normative?

  1. Unemployment rose by 2% last year.
  2. A price rise usually lowers quantity demanded.
  3. The government should cut income tax.
Show the answer

The government should cut income tax.

A normative statement is an opinion or value judgement, often using should or ought. It cannot be proved true or false with data. The other two can be checked against evidence, so they are positive.

Economic thinking & data, 2 marks

Which Irish body collects official data such as the census and the Consumer Price Index?

  1. The Revenue Commissioners (Revenue)
  2. The Central Statistics Office (CSO)
  3. The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI)
Show the answer

The Central Statistics Office (CSO)

The CSO is Ireland's national statistics office. It runs the census, measures inflation with the CPI and publishes jobs data from the Labour Force Survey.

Economic thinking & data, 2 marks

Studying the economy as a whole, such as national unemployment, is called?

  1. Macroeconomics
  2. Microeconomics
  3. Accounting
Show the answer

Macroeconomics

Macroeconomics looks at the whole economy: growth, inflation, unemployment and the Budget. Microeconomics looks at individual consumers, firms and markets.

Other Economics topics

All of Leaving Cert Economics