Official syllabus
ICSE Class IX Economics Syllabus 2026 – 27
Explore the official topics, exam pattern and source PDF in one place.
Overview
Purpose: Economics helps students understand economic concepts and problems, relate theory to everyday life, and develop the ability to interpret economic information and reason about choices, resources and public policy.
Class IX focus: The course introduces the meaning and scope of Economics, types of economies, basic economic entities and problems, the Indian economy and its major challenges. Students build a foundation for analysing production, consumption and development through class work and internal-assessment assignments.
Full syllabus
Aims and Eligibility instruction
Candidates offering Economic Applications in (Group III) are not eligible to offer Economics (Group II)
Aims:
- To acquire the knowledge of terms, facts, concepts, trends, principles, assumptions, etc. in Economics.
- To develop familiarity with the basic terminology and elementary ideas of Economics.
- To acquire knowledge of contemporary economic problems and to appreciate the efforts being made to solve these problems.
- To develop an understanding of the Nation’s physical and human resources and how to avoid their misuse.
- To understand the various economic processes that help in improving our standard of living.
Introduction to Economics unit
1. Introduction to Economics
(i) Definition of Economics according to Adams, Robbins, Keynes and Samuelson.
Self-explanatory.
(ii) Micro & Macro Economics.
Meaning, difference and examples only.
(iii) Types of activities.
Economic and non-economic activities: meaning and examples; difference between Economic and non-economic activities.
(iv) Sectors in an Economy.
Primary, secondary and tertiary sectors: meaning and examples along with; differences.
(v) Basic Economic terms.
Meaning of the following economic terms: Wants, Goods, services, wealth, utility, production, consumption, sustainable consumption, factors of production, market, price, value, income, saving, wealth, welfare, economy.
(vi) Entities.
Government sectors, firms, households, foreign sector: meaning only.
Types of Economies unit
2. Types of Economies
(i) On the basis of Nature.
Capitalist Economy, Socialist Economy, Mixed Economy – with reference to India (meaning and differences).
(ii) On the basis of Development.
Developed Economy and Developing Economy: meaning and differences.
(iii) Economic growth and development.
Meaning and differences.
Problems of an Economy unit
3. Problems of an Economy
(i) Limited availability of Resources.
Meaning and types of resources with examples; meaning and examples of limited resources; an understanding of the basic economic problem - Human wants are unlimited in relation to limited resources that have alternative uses; need for efficient use of resources (brief understanding with an example.)
(ii) Central problems of an economy.
What to produce? How to produce? For whom to produce? - A brief understanding with examples.
The Indian Economy: A Study unit
4. The Indian Economy: A Study
(i) Primary Sector: Agriculture - contribution of agriculture; problems of Indian agriculture; government measures to increase agricultural production; Green revolution and its impact; food security.
(a) Agriculture and allied activities: meaning; contribution of agriculture to employment, industry, trade and self-sufficiency in food production: a brief understanding of the above.
(b) Problems of Indian Agriculture: a brief understanding of: limited use of technology, fragmentation of land holdings, dependence on monsoon, lack of rural credit facilities, inadequate storage & marketing facilities.
(c) Government measures to improve agricultural production: Use of High Yielding variety seeds, use of fertiliser and insecticides, Better irrigation facilities, Adoption of technology, Setting up of agricultural research centres and institutes, Provision & expansion of rural credit facilities. Provision of better storage and marketing facilities: a brief understanding of the above.
(d) Green Revolution: meaning and its positive impacts.
(e) Meaning of Food Security; role of Food Corporation of India (FCI).
(ii) Secondary: Industry: meaning and types; adverse impacts of industrialisation and measures to overcome adverse impacts.
(a) Meaning of Industry; a brief understanding of the interdependence of Agriculture and Industry.
(b) Types of Industries; large scale and medium scale Industries. Meaning, features and examples only. Cottage & Small-Scale Industries. Meaning, features and examples; significance with reference to India.
(c) Adverse impacts of industrialisation: a brief understanding of the adverse impacts with reference to industrial pollution and deforestation; measures to overcome the adverse impacts: Afforestation, Waste management.
(iii) Tertiary Sector: Education and Healthcare, Transportation, Banking, Insurance, Communication, Storage and Warehousing.
Role of each of the above in the economic development of the country in brief with the help of examples.
Major Problems of the Indian Economy unit
5. Major Problems of the Indian Economy
(i) Poverty
Meaning of poverty line - concept based on calorie intake; Relative and absolute poverty: meaning with examples; causes of poverty: any five causes of poverty to be discussed.
(ii) Unemployment
Meaning; Types: Seasonal, Structural, Technological: meaning and example of each.
Causes of unemployment- any five to be discussed.
(iii) Schemes and Programmes introduced by the government to remove poverty & unemployment.
Any two programmes to be studied with the objectives. For example, IRDP, JRY, PKVY, HRIDAY, MNREGA, etc.
Major Reforms and Emerging trends in the Indian Economy unit
6. Major Reforms and Emerging trends in the Indian Economy
(i) LPG Model
Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation: meaning of each term and its positive impact on the Indian economy.
(ii) Smart city
Concept of Smart city; Case Study: take one suitable example of a smart city and discuss the development taken place in the form of infrastructure development, reduction of unemployment, poverty alleviation, HR development and industrial development.
(iii) ‘Digital India’ and ‘Skill India’.
Case study of each of the above (not to be tested).
Marks & examination pattern
| Assessment | Marks | Weightage |
|---|---|---|
| Paper: Theory | 80.00 | |
| Internal Assessment | 20.00 |
Paper: Theory
- Duration
- 2 hours
There will be one paper of two hours duration carrying 80 marks and Internal Assessment of 20 marks. The paper will be divided into two sections A and B.
Paper pattern and choice
Section A will consist of compulsory questions requiring short answers and will cover the entire syllabus. Section B will consist of questions, which will require detailed answers. There will be a choice and candidates will be required to answer four questions from this section.
Internal Assessment
One project/assignment as prescribed by the teacher from the syllabus.
Practical & Projects
Internal Assessment
The minimum number of assignments:
One project/assignment as prescribed by the teacher from the syllabus.
Suggested Assignments:
- A case study on the effects of industrial pollution.
- Conduct a research on the local economy using any one parameter, for example, education, health, employment and so on.
- Conduct a research on any industry and study how the output has been impacted post liberalisation and globalisation.
- Analyse any recent government scheme in context to the infrastructural development in the country.
- Visit a small scale or cottage industry and write a report on the basis of the techniques of production being used.
EVALUATION
The assignments/project works are to be evaluated by the subject teacher and by an External Examiner.
(The External Examiner may be a teacher nominated by the Head of the school, who could be from the faculty, but not teaching the subject in the section/class. For example, a teacher of Economics of Class XI may be deputed to be an External Examiner for Class X, Economics projects.)
The Internal Examiner and the External Examiner will assess the assignments independently.
Award of Marks: (20 Marks)
Subject Teacher (Internal Examiner) 10 marks
External Examiner 10 marks
The total marks obtained out of 20 are to be sent to the Council by the Head of the school.
The Head of the school will be responsible for the online entry of marks on the Council’s CAREERS portal by the due date.
INTERNAL ASSESSMENT IN ECONOMICS - GUIDELINES FOR MARKING WITH GRADES
| Grade | Preparation/ Research | Information | Observation | Inference | Presentation | Marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Follows instructions with understanding. Masters research techniques easily. Reference work is orderly. | A good deal of relevant matter. Uses wide range of sources. | Systematic record of data; good arrangement of data; creative representation. | Work indicates understanding, good comprehension of subject. | Methodical, precise and clear expression; neat and tidy presentation; optimum utilisation of skills. | 4 |
| II | Follows instructions but needs a little help in research techniques. Reference notes quite orderly. | Selects matter relevant to context. Limited use of references/ sources. | Able to record data correctly. | Can judge and grasp information correctly; conclusion quantitatively evaluated. | Work neat and tidy and clearly presented; methodical and appropriate techniques used. | 3 |
| III | Follows instructions but needs constant guidance. Reference notes at times disorderly. | Relevant matter but limited reference work. Matter is sketchy. | Assistance required in presenting, recording and arranging data. | Requires some assistance to grasp the relevance and validity of information; able to relate to economic scenario. | Reasonably clear but work disorganised in places; writing untidy in places. | 2 |
| IV | Struggles with research methods and needs constant guidance. Reference notes copied without reference to keywords. | Hardly any reference material. Use of irrelevant matter. Matter is quite sketchy. | Tends to make mistakes in organising data. | Assistance required in order to grasp the relevance and validity of information; tends to make errors. | Sequence of work acceptable but not very neat; poor presentation. | 1 |
| V | Cannot follow instructions. Works ‘blindly’ without reference to keywords. | No reference work/copied from other textbooks/ sketchy matter. | Makes mistakes in organizing data; not able to proceed even with assistance. | Cannot process results; faulty conclusions in spite of assistance provided. | Data presentation untidy and disorganised; effort and initiative lacking. | 0 |
Prescribed Books
Refer to the official source; no separate requirements have been recorded.