In Economics, the best IB Extended Essay topics don’t start with a headline. They start with a small, stubborn curiosity: Why did prices change here but not there? Who benefited from this policy, and who quietly paid for it? If you can find a question that keeps nagging you (even when you’re tired), you’re already closer to a high-scoring IB Extended Essay than most.
The trick is turning curiosity into something assessable: narrow, data-driven, and clearly tied to economic theory. That’s what this guide is for.
A quick checklist for a strong IB Extended Essay topic
Before you commit, pressure-test your IB Extended Essay idea with this mini-filter:
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Scope: Can you explain the question in one sentence, without extra clauses?
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Theory: Which models or concepts will you actually use (elasticity, market power, externalities, monetary policy, trade theory, development indicators)?
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Evidence: Do you have accessible data (public datasets, local prices, surveys, company reports, central bank data)?
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Evaluation: Does the wording force judgment (for example: “to what extent,” “evaluate,” “how significant”)?
If you want a deeper version of that filter, use RevisionDojo’s checklist: How Do You Know If Your EE Topic Is Good Enough?
20 unique Economics topics for your IB Extended Essay
Use these as templates. Swap in your city, country, timeframe, and dataset so your IB Extended Essay becomes personal and researchable.
Microeconomics EE ideas
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Ride-sharing and elasticity: To what extent has ride-sharing changed taxi fare price elasticity in your city (2019-2025)?
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Streaming price discrimination: How has tiered pricing (student plans, family plans) affected consumer surplus in a chosen market?
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Fast fashion market power: How does market concentration in fast fashion affect pricing and non-price competition?
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Delivery platforms: To what extent do delivery app fees shift the supply curve for small restaurants?
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Bottled water vs tap water: What explains willingness to pay differences across neighborhoods (income, information, trust)?
Macroeconomics EE ideas
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Inflation expectations: Evaluate how central bank communication affected inflation expectations during a chosen shock period.
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Remittances and growth: To what extent have remittance inflows influenced GDP growth post-2020 in a chosen country?
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Youth unemployment: How significant is minimum wage policy in explaining youth unemployment in one region over a set timeframe?
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Tourism vulnerability: Evaluate how tourism dependence affects the volatility of real GDP during global downturns.
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Exchange rate pass-through: To what extent do currency depreciations translate into domestic inflation for essential imports?
International economics EE ideas
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Tariffs and exports: To what extent have tariffs between two partners affected agricultural exports from a chosen country?
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Oil price swings: Evaluate how changes in oil prices affect the trade balance of an oil-importing economy.
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Regional trade agreements: How significant was a specific trade agreement in changing FDI inflows into one sector?
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Shipping disruptions: To what extent did shipping cost spikes reshape import prices in a small open economy?
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Currency pegs: Evaluate the benefits and costs of maintaining a currency peg for trade competitiveness.
Development economics EE ideas
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Microfinance and gender outcomes: How effective are microfinance programs at increasing female entrepreneurship in a defined rural area?
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Conditional cash transfers: To what extent do cash transfers change school attendance outcomes in a chosen region?
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Tourism diversification and poverty: Evaluate whether diversifying tourism products reduces poverty in a specific local economy.
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Informal markets: How significant is the informal sector in explaining tax revenue gaps in a chosen country?
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Mobile money: To what extent does mobile money adoption improve small business resilience during economic shocks?
Turn a topic into a research question (RQ) that scores
A topic becomes an IB Extended Essay when it has boundaries.
Try this pattern:
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To what extent has X affected Y in place between time?
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Evaluate the impact of X on Y using theory/model and data.
For step-by-step help refining your RQ wording, use: IB Extended Essay Research Question: 8 Proven Tips and EE Research Question: What Works in 2027.
How RevisionDojo helps you finish the IB Extended Essay without panic
A good IB Extended Essay is built from feedback loops: draft, check, tighten, repeat.
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Use the IB Economics Extended Essay Guide to align your approach with subject expectations.
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Use the IB Economics EE Grader to get rubric-aligned feedback while you’re still drafting.
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Use the IB Economics Exemplars and Economics EE Exemplars to calibrate what “analysis” looks like on the page.
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When you’re stuck, RevisionDojo’s AI Chat can help you tighten definitions, generate counterarguments, and spot where you’re describing instead of evaluating.
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While your IB Extended Essay runs in the background, keep exam prep alive with RevisionDojo’s Questionbank, Study Notes, Flashcards, Mock Exams, and Predicted Papers.
Conclusion: pick the smallest question you can answer well
A memorable Economics IB Extended Essay usually isn’t the most dramatic topic. It’s the most specific one: a narrow place, a clear time window, a measurable variable, and a theory you can actually apply.
Choose one idea from the list, shrink it until it feels almost too small, then test it with RevisionDojo’s tools: the EE topic checklist, the Economics EE guide, and the IB Economics EE Grader. Your future self (the one revising at 11:47 p.m.) will thank you.