Free topical revision checklist for IB DP Economics SL & HL, including the IA requirements. Track confidence (1–5) and review dates. Built for 2026 exam expectations. Rate your confidence (1–5), track review dates, then export as CSV or print.
| Topic | Sub-topic | Resources | Assessments | Confidence (1–5) | Last reviewed | Next review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Introductory economics & key concepts | The basic economic problem: scarcity and choice | Study | Quiz | |||
| 1. Introductory economics & key concepts | Opportunity cost and trade-offs; production possibility curves (PPC) | Study | Quiz | |||
| 1. Introductory economics & key concepts | Specialisation and division of labour | LearnOpens subject resources | — | |||
| 1. Introductory economics & key concepts | Demand: determinants; movements vs shifts | Study | Quiz | |||
| 1. Introductory economics & key concepts | Supply: determinants; movements vs shifts | Study | Quiz | |||
| 1. Introductory economics & key concepts | Market equilibrium; disequilibrium; rationing functions of price | Study | Quiz | |||
| 1. Introductory economics & key concepts | Elasticities: PED, PES, YED, XED (definitions, determinants, calculations) | Study | Quiz | |||
| 1. Introductory economics & key concepts | Elasticity applications: revenue, tax incidence, subsidies | LearnOpens subject resources | — | |||
| 1. Introductory economics & key concepts | Welfare analysis: consumer/producer surplus; deadweight loss | Study | Quiz | |||
| 1. Introductory economics & key concepts | Market failure: externalities, public goods, common access, information failure | Study | Quiz | |||
| 1. Introductory economics & key concepts | Government intervention: taxes, subsidies, regulations, permits, nudges; evaluation | Study | Quiz | |||
| 2. Microeconomics (firms & markets) | Production: short run vs long run; law of diminishing returns | Study | Quiz | |||
| 2. Microeconomics (firms & markets) | Costs: fixed/variable/total; average and marginal measures | LearnOpens subject resources | — | |||
| 2. Microeconomics (firms & markets) | Revenue: TR, AR, MR; profit (normal vs supernormal) | LearnOpens subject resources | — | |||
| 2. Microeconomics (firms & markets) | Market structures: perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, monopoly | Study | Quiz | |||
| 2. Microeconomics (firms & markets) | Pricing strategies (collusion, price discrimination — HL emphasis) | Study | Quiz | |||
| 2. Microeconomics (firms & markets) | Efficiency: allocative, productive, dynamic; X-inefficiency | LearnOpens subject resources | — | |||
| 2. Microeconomics (firms & markets) | Market power and regulation; competition policy | Study | Quiz | |||
| 2. Microeconomics (firms & markets) | Labour markets: wage determination; minimum wages; unions (as taught) | LearnOpens subject resources | — | |||
| 2. Microeconomics (firms & markets) | Income inequality: causes, measurement, policies (as taught) | LearnOpens subject resources | — | |||
| 3. Macroeconomics | Macroeconomic objectives: growth, inflation, unemployment, equity, environment | Study | Quiz | |||
| 3. Macroeconomics | Measuring activity: GDP/GNI; real vs nominal; business cycle | LearnOpens subject resources | — | |||
| 3. Macroeconomics | Aggregate demand (AD) components; shifts and multipliers | Study | Quiz | |||
| 3. Macroeconomics | Aggregate supply (SRAS/LRAS) and determinants | Study | Quiz | |||
| 3. Macroeconomics | Inflation: demand-pull vs cost-push; consequences; policy responses | Study | Quiz | |||
| 3. Macroeconomics | Unemployment: types; consequences; policy responses | Study | Quiz | |||
| 3. Macroeconomics | Economic growth: determinants, benefits/costs; sustainability | Study | Quiz | |||
| 3. Macroeconomics | Fiscal policy: budget balance, taxation/spending; strengths/limitations | Study | Quiz | |||
| 3. Macroeconomics | Monetary policy: interest rates, money supply; strengths/limitations | Study | Quiz | |||
| 3. Macroeconomics | Supply-side policies: market-based vs interventionist; evaluation | Study | Quiz | |||
| 3. Macroeconomics | Policy evaluation: time lags, trade-offs, stakeholders, unintended consequences | Study | Quiz | |||
| 4. Global economics | Benefits of trade; comparative advantage (theory + limitations) | Study | Quiz | |||
| 4. Global economics | Trade protection: tariffs, quotas, subsidies, admin barriers; arguments for/against | Study | Quiz | |||
| 4. Global economics | Exchange rates: floating vs fixed; determinants; consequences of appreciation/depreciation | Study | Quiz | |||
| 4. Global economics | Balance of payments: current/capital/financial accounts; current account deficits | Study | Quiz | |||
| 4. Global economics | Terms of trade and commodity dependence (as taught) | LearnOpens subject resources | — | |||
| 4. Global economics | Economic integration: FTAs, customs unions, common markets; evaluation | Study | Quiz | |||
| 4. Global economics | Development: indicators, barriers to growth, poverty cycles | Study | Quiz | |||
| 4. Global economics | Development strategies: aid, trade, microfinance, debt relief; evaluation | Study | Quiz | |||
| 4. Global economics | Globalisation: causes, impacts, winners/losers; links to sustainability/SDGs | LearnOpens subject resources | — | |||
| 5. Internal Assessment (IA) checklist | Microeconomics commentary (real-world article + diagrams + evaluation) | LearnOpens subject resources | — | |||
| 5. Internal Assessment (IA) checklist | Macroeconomics commentary (policy, data + evaluation) | LearnOpens subject resources | — | |||
| 5. Internal Assessment (IA) checklist | Global economics commentary (trade/development + evaluation) | LearnOpens subject resources | — | |||
| 5. Internal Assessment (IA) checklist | Diagram accuracy, terminology, and coherent evaluation structure | LearnOpens subject resources | — | |||
| 5. Internal Assessment (IA) checklist | Evidence: data sources, relevance, citations and academic honesty | LearnOpens subject resources | — |
Tip: Pair this checklist with past paper practice and spaced repetition. Always confirm exact assessment components (SL/HL, options) with your school’s IB DP route for the 2026 exam session.
Quick answers about this free revision checklist, how to use it for exam prep, and how it relates to the official syllabus.
This revision checklist mirrors the official IB DP Economics syllabus for the 2026 examination series. Every topic and sub-topic on the page is taken from the published syllabus document, so working through the list in order gives you full coverage of what your exam can assess. It covers both Standard Level (SL) and Higher Level (HL) topic expectations. For the authoritative version, always cross-check with the latest syllabus PDF on your exam board's website before your final revision push.
The number of top-level topic groups varies by subject, but you can see the exact count on this page — each major heading in the checklist corresponds to one syllabus topic group, and each row below it is a syllabus-level sub-topic. Use the confidence column (1–5) to flag which sub-topics need more work, and re-score yourself weekly to track real progress instead of guessing.
16–20 weeks of consistent revision is realistic for IB DP — work through one topic per week alongside ongoing past-paper practice and Internal Assessment polish. Use this checklist to plan your weeks: filter by topics you have rated 1–3 and spend your first revision block there. Subjects with heavy practical or extended-writing components (e.g. sciences, English) need more past-paper time in the final block than the topic-by-topic phase.
Revise in roughly the order the syllabus lists the topics — exam boards build later topics on earlier ones, so taking them in syllabus order avoids gaps. Once you have rated every topic, switch to weakest-first: filter the checklist by confidence ≤ 2 and prioritise those topics in your next study block. This is more effective than re-revising topics you already score 4–5 on.
You can find past papers and mark schemes via Tutopiya's Past Paper Finder and on your exam board's official site. Once you have rated each sub-topic on this checklist, attempt past-paper questions on your weakest topics first — practising under timed conditions is the single best predictor of exam performance, more so than re-reading notes.
Use the Download CSV or Print PDF button at the bottom of the checklist. CSV opens in Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets so you can sort by confidence and re-arrange revision order. The PDF is print-ready for offline use. A free Tutopiya account is required for download — this also unlocks the matching topic resources, notes and worked examples on the Learning Portal.
Yes, the checklist itself is free — you can view, score and re-score every topic on this page without an account. The CSV / PDF downloads and access to matching Tutopiya Learning Portal resources require a free account. There is no payment required at any point; teachers and parents can also use this checklist freely with their students.
Yes. The topics and sub-topics on this page are drawn from the current 2026 IB DP Economics specification published by your exam board. Exam boards occasionally tweak weighting or assessment structure mid-cycle, so do a quick sanity-check against the official syllabus PDF when you start your revision and again 4 weeks before the exam.