How long is the IB Economics IA?

Three commentaries of at most 800 words each, 2,400 words in total. Each covers a different syllabus section and a different key concept, based on a news article published within the last year.

How is the IB Economics IA marked?

Out of 45. Each commentary earns up to 14 marks across diagrams, terminology, application and analysis, the key concept, and evaluation; a further 3 marks reward meeting the portfolio rubric.

What articles can I use for the IA?

Real news reporting an economic event or policy, published no more than a year before you write, one source per commentary. Avoid opinion columns and explainers that have already done the analysis.

IB Economics · Exams and assessment

Internal assessment: the IB Economics IA explained

The IB Economics IA is three 800-word commentaries, each on a different syllabus section, using a different key concept and a recent news article.

Best studied with a graph you can move: Draw a diagram in the sandbox

What the portfolio is

The internal assessment is a portfolio of three commentaries, each a maximum of 800 words, so 2,400 words in total. Each commentary analyses a different section of the syllabus (introduction to economics, microeconomics, macroeconomics, or the global economy) and applies a different one of the nine key concepts.

The nine key concepts are scarcity, choice, efficiency, equity, economic well-being, sustainability, change, interdependence and intervention. You use three different ones, one per commentary.

The IA is worth 30% at SL and 20% at HL. It is marked by your teacher and then moderated by the IB, out of 45.

Choosing articles (the rules)

Each commentary is based on one published news article. The article must have been published no more than one year before you write the commentary, and each of the three must come from a different source.

Choose news reporting a real economic event: a policy, a price change, a firm decision. Avoid opinion columns and economics explainers that have already done the analysis for you.

The best articles are short, recent, focused on a single event, and rich in something you can draw a diagram about.

The marking criteria

Each commentary is marked out of 14 across five criteria: Diagrams (3 marks) for accurate, relevant, fully explained diagrams; Terminology (2 marks) for consistent, appropriate economic language; Application and analysis (3 marks) for applying theory to the article; Key concept (3 marks) for genuinely using the chosen concept as a lens; and Evaluation (3 marks) for reasoned judgement.

A sixth criterion, Rubric requirements (3 marks), applies to the whole portfolio: word counts, article dates and sources, three different sections and three different key concepts.

That is 14 marks per commentary, 42 across the three, plus 3 rubric marks, for 45 in total.

A step-by-step writing process

Find a recent news article about a clear economic event. Identify the theory it illustrates and the diagram it lets you draw.

Pick a key concept that genuinely fits the analysis. Draft the diagram first and build the commentary around explaining it with reference to the article.

Apply the theory to the specific case, then evaluate: short-run versus long-run, stakeholders, assumptions, and a conclusion. Trim to 800 words by cutting summary of the article rather than your own analysis.

A good versus a bad article choice

Good: a short news report, published two months ago, that a government has introduced a tax on sugary drinks, with a price figure. It lets you draw a specific-tax diagram, apply the intervention or market-failure concept, and evaluate the effect on consumers, producers and government.

Bad: a long think-piece titled something like 'everything wrong with the economy', undated or two years old, that already contains the analysis and gives you nothing fresh to diagram.

The article should be a starting point for your economics, not a substitute for it.

Common ways students lose marks

Summarising the article instead of analysing it: the examiner wants your economics, not a retelling.

A diagram that is drawn but never explained, or that is not relevant to the article.

Forcing a key concept that does not fit, or naming it once and never using it as a lens.

Weak or missing evaluation: no judgement, no conclusion.

Breaking the rubric: over 800 words, two commentaries on the same section, the same key concept twice, or an article older than a year.

How this is examined

The IA is worth 30% at SL and 20% at HL and is marked out of 45: 14 marks per commentary plus 3 rubric marks for the portfolio as a whole.
Choose the article for its diagram potential; a news report you can draw a clear, relevant diagram from scores far better than an interesting article you cannot.
Name your key concept early and use it as the lens for the whole commentary; mentioning it once does not earn the Key concept marks.
Guard the rubric marks: three different sections, three different key concepts, three sources, each article under one year old, each commentary at most 800 words.

Key terms

scarcity opportunity cost market failure externality

Frequently asked

How long is the IB Economics IA?: Three commentaries of at most 800 words each, 2,400 words in total. Each covers a different syllabus section and a different key concept, based on a news article published within the last year.
How is the IB Economics IA marked?: Out of 45. Each commentary earns up to 14 marks across diagrams, terminology, application and analysis, the key concept, and evaluation; a further 3 marks reward meeting the portfolio rubric.
What articles can I use for the IA?: Real news reporting an economic event or policy, published no more than a year before you write, one source per commentary. Avoid opinion columns and explainers that have already done the analysis.
Which key concepts do I use in the IA?: Three different concepts from the nine: scarcity, choice, efficiency, equity, economic well-being, sustainability, change, interdependence, and intervention, one per commentary.