Economic development implies an overall rise in the general welfare of people of an economy. The following are some of the features of economic development.
a. Long term concept- Economic development requires the sustainment of real national income over a long period of time. Thus, it is a long term phenomenon.
b. Promotes structural transformation- The process of economic development involves structural transformation of the economy. That is, it promotes the transfer or shift in the population from the agriculture to industry and later to the service sector.
c. Qualitative concept- Economic development is qualitative in nature as it basically studies those concepts that are qualitative in nature such as tastes and preferences of people, welfare and well-being of the people, etc.
d. Structural change- Economic development leads to a change in the structure of an economy from the dominat agriculture sector to the industrial and service secor. In other words, with economic development the share of agriculture sector declines while the share of industrial and service sector increases.