Paper 1
Extended-response
essays.
Two essay questions chosen from a list spanning all four units. Each question is split into a 10-mark part (a) — explain — and a 15-mark part (b) — evaluate with real-world examples.
Economics · SL & HL · current syllabus (first exams 2022)
IB Economics
IB Economics
question bank.
Syllabus-mapped IB-style questions across all four IB Economics units — Introduction, Microeconomics, Macroeconomics, and The Global Economy — at both SL and HL. Built for Paper 1 essays, Paper 2 data-response, and the HL-only Paper 3 policy paper.
Aligned to the current IB syllabus AI Examiner marks to the real IB mark scheme Free to start, no card needed
Sample Question · From the bank
Paper 3
Microeconomics · Tax
HL 6–7
Question 1
A government imposes an indirect tax of $5 per unit on a market for sugar-sweetened beverages. Prior to the tax, the market was in equilibrium with price Pe = $12 and quantity Qe = 1,000,000 units per week. Price elasticity of demand at the equilibrium is −0.6.
Define price elasticity of demand.
[2 marks]Using a diagram, identify the new equilibrium price and quantity, and calculate the consumer share of the tax incidence.
[6 marks]Discuss one alternative policy the government could use to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, with reference to the elasticity above.
[7 marks]
AI Examiner ready
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Syllabus coverage
Four units.
Real-world economics.
The current IB Economics syllabus is organised into four units — from foundational concepts to the global economy. Every FourtyFive question is mapped to a specific sub-topic and to a paper format.
4
units covered
SL & HL aligned
Unit 1
Introduction
to Economics
Scarcity, choice, economic methodology and the central problem.
Unit 2
Microeconomics
Markets, demand & supply, elasticity, government intervention, market failure, theory of the firm (HL).
Unit 3
Macroeconomics
GDP and growth, unemployment, inflation, fiscal and monetary policy, supply-side policy.
Unit 4
The Global
Economy
International trade, exchange rates, balance of payments, economic development, sustainability.
Practice every paper
Every paper,
weighted like the real exam.
FourtyFive's question bank mirrors the IB assessment model — same paper formats, time limits and weightings you'll meet on exam day.
02
Paper 2
Data-response
extract analysis.
SL & HL: 1h 45 · 40 marks · 40% SL / 30% HL
An unseen text extract followed by short-response calculations, definitions and diagrams plus a 15-mark evaluation question that links the extract to course concepts.
03
Paper 3 (HL only)
Policy paper.
Quantitative + qualitative.
1h 45 · 60 marks · 30% of HL grade
Two compulsory data-led policy questions that combine calculations, diagrams and policy recommendations. The paper most often decides 6 vs 7 at HL.
Topic · Derivatives
Math AA HL
Capability86
Fluency72
Retention58
Confidence80
Awareness66
Momentum78
Mastery — last 7 sessions
Mastery score
76
/ 100
+5 this week
Strong recent performance, but retention is fading on chain-rule problems answered >14 days ago.
Capability · 86
Retention · 58
Confidence · 80
Why students stick with FourtyFive
The algorithm
earns its keep.
Every answer you submit updates a three-layer mastery score across each topic — proven capability, retention, and confidence. Topics fading from memory get pulled back into your queue before exam season. Topics with sudden drops get flagged for immediate review. You spend revision time where it actually matters.
- Updated after every answer
- Catches sudden drops, not just averages
- Cautious when the data is thin, confident when it isn't
Revision guide
How to revise IB Economics with a question bank.
IB Economics is half theory, half real-world judgement. The students who score 7s aren't the ones who memorised the most definitions — they're the ones who can pick the right diagram, cite a real example, and write a balanced evaluation under time pressure.
FourtyFive's IB Economics question bank is built for that loop. Here's how to use it well.
1. Drill diagrams to muscle memory
Every Paper 1 part (a) and most Paper 2 short responses reward a clean, labelled diagram more than a long paragraph. Drill the core diagrams — demand & supply, PPC, AD/AS, Lorenz curve — until you can sketch them in under a minute.
2. Build a real-world example bank
Paper 1 part (b) is an evaluation. The mark scheme rewards specific, current real-world examples. Keep a running list of 6–8 examples (one per major topic) and the AI Examiner will flag when an answer is too abstract.
3. Practise Paper 3 quantitative skills weekly (HL)
Paper 3 carries 30% of the HL grade and rewards numerical fluency. Drill the calculations — tax incidence, price floors, GDP deflator, exchange-rate revaluation — separately from essay practice so the maths is automatic on exam day.
4. Use command terms as the answer structure
"Explain" is structurally different from "discuss" or "evaluate." Every FourtyFive question is tagged by command term so you can drill the structure of an answer, not just the content.
5. Mix Macro and Global in the final stretch
Macroeconomics and The Global Economy interlock heavily in Paper 2 evaluation. Once you're four to six weeks out, switch to mixed-topic mode and let the algorithm interleave them the way the real paper will.
Other IB question banks
Take a different
IB subject?
FourtyFive covers six IB Diploma subjects today, all included on every plan. Cross-link to the rest of the question bank below.
FAQ
Questions,
answered.
Can't find what you're looking for? Email our student team — we usually reply same day.
How many questions are in the IB Economics question bank?
FourtyFive's Economics question bank covers all four units of the current syllabus at both SL and HL, with thousands of questions tagged by paper, unit, topic and command term. The bank grows every week.
Does FourtyFive cover Economics Paper 3 (HL only)?
Yes. Paper 3 is HL-only and carries 30% of the HL grade — two compulsory policy-style questions combining calculations, diagrams and policy recommendations. FourtyFive's bank includes Paper 3 problems and the AI Examiner marks both the numerical and the evaluative parts.
Is the question bank aligned to the current IB Economics syllabus?
Yes — every question is mapped to the current Economics syllabus (first teaching September 2020, first assessment May 2022). When the IBO publishes a subject report or syllabus revision, we update topic tags and add fresh questions to match.
Does the AI Examiner mark hand-drawn economics diagrams?
Yes. Hand-drawn diagrams — demand & supply, PPC, AD/AS, Lorenz curve, exchange-rate equilibria — are marked alongside typed and handwritten prose. The AI flags missing axis labels, missing curves and missing equilibrium points the way an IB examiner would.
Can I see worked solutions and a mark scheme breakdown?
Yes. Every question has a step-by-step worked solution plus a per-mark breakdown showing where definitional marks, diagrammatic marks and evaluative reasoning marks come from — just like the real IB mark scheme.
Are the questions real IB Economics past papers?
No — the IBO owns the copyright on real past papers and we don't redistribute them. Every question on FourtyFive is original, written by IB Economics subject experts to match the style, difficulty and command terms of the real exam, and tagged to the current syllabus.
Start practising IB Economics today.
Micro, macro, global — one bank.
Free to start, no card needed. Every unit of the current Economics syllabus, marked by an AI Examiner against the real IB mark scheme.
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