Location quotient
Also called: LQ · Topic: Geographical Data: Sources, Compilation and Processing · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A location quotient (LQ) shows whether a region has more of an activity than the country as a whole. It divides the region's share by the nation's share. The region's share is the region's workers in that activity ÷ all of the region's workers. The nation's share is India's workers in that activity ÷ all of India's workers. An LQ above 1 means the region specialises in that activity. An LQ of 1 means it matches the national level, and below 1 means it has less than its share. Geographers use it to find industrial clusters and a region's economic base.
Example
In Tiruppur district in Tamil Nadu, a large share of workers make knitted garments. Textile workers there form a much bigger share of the workforce than they do across India. So Tiruppur's LQ for textiles is well above 1, which marks it as a textile cluster.
Don't confuse with
- Absolute number of workers: a big state can employ many textile workers and still have an LQ below 1. LQ compares shares, not totals.