AP Macroeconomics exam guide 2027
Everything on the AP Macroeconomics exam, unit by unit, mapped to the official College Board course framework, with a free lesson for every topic, exactly how the free-response questions are marked and a 10-week revision plan.
The exam at a glance
The May 2027 exam is hybrid digital: you answer the multiple-choice questions in the Bluebook app, read the free-response questions on screen and handwrite your answers in a paper booklet. A four-function calculator is allowed. Scores run from 1 to 5; most universities give credit for a 3, 4 or 5.
| Section | Questions | Time | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Section I: Multiple choice | 60 questions | 1 hour 10 minutes | 66% of your score |
| Section II: Free response | 3 questions: 1 long, 2 short | 1 hour, including a 10-minute reading period | 33% of your score |
The long free-response question is worth half of Section II and usually asks you to draw and label at least one graph, show a change, and explain the result. The two short questions are worth a quarter each and often include a calculation or a single graph.
What is on the exam, unit by unit
Unit 1: Basic Economic Concepts 5–10%
| Topic | What you must know | Learn it here |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1 | Scarcity | The Economic Problem |
| 1.2 | Opportunity cost and the PPC | The Production Possibility Curve |
| 1.3 | Comparative advantage and gains from trade | Comparative Advantage |
| 1.4 | Demand | Demand |
| 1.5 | Supply | Supply |
| 1.6 | Market equilibrium, disequilibrium and changes in equilibrium | Market Equilibrium and Price |
Unit 2: Economic Indicators and the Business Cycle 12–17%
| Topic | What you must know | Learn it here |
|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | The circular flow and GDP | Gross Domestic Product |
| 2.2 | Limitations of GDP | Gross Domestic Product |
| 2.3 | Unemployment: types, rate, natural rate | Unemployment |
| 2.4 | Price indices and inflation | Inflation and Price Indices |
| 2.5 | Costs of inflation | Inflation and Price Indices |
| 2.6 | Real versus nominal GDP | Gross Domestic Product |
| 2.7 | Business cycles | The Business Cycle and Economic Growth |
Unit 3: National Income and Price Determination 17–27%
| Topic | What you must know | Learn it here |
|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | Aggregate demand | Aggregate Demand |
| 3.2 | Multipliers | The Multiplier |
| 3.3 | Short-run aggregate supply | Aggregate Supply |
| 3.4 | Long-run aggregate supply | Aggregate Supply |
| 3.5 | Equilibrium in the AD–AS model | Macroeconomic Equilibrium |
| 3.6 | Changes in the AD–AS model in the short run | Macroeconomic Equilibrium |
| 3.7 | Long-run self-adjustment | Macroeconomic Equilibrium |
| 3.8 | Fiscal policy | Fiscal Policy |
| 3.9 | Automatic stabilisers | Fiscal Policy |
Unit 4: Financial Sector 18–23%
| Topic | What you must know | Learn it here |
|---|---|---|
| 4.1 | Financial assets: bonds, stocks, liquidity | Financial Assets and Interest Rates |
| 4.2 | Nominal versus real interest rates | Financial Assets and Interest Rates |
| 4.3 | Definition, measurement and functions of money | Money and Banking |
| 4.4 | Banking and the expansion of the money supply | Money and Banking |
| 4.5 | The money market | The Money Market |
| 4.6 | Monetary policy | Monetary Policy, The Money Market |
| 4.7 | The loanable funds market | The Loanable Funds Market |
Unit 5: Long-Run Consequences of Stabilization Policies 20–30%
| Topic | What you must know | Learn it here |
|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | Fiscal and monetary policy actions in the short run | Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy |
| 5.2 | The Phillips curve | The Phillips Curve and Expectations |
| 5.3 | Money growth and inflation | Money Growth and Inflation |
| 5.4 | Government deficits and the national debt | Deficits, Debt and Crowding Out |
| 5.5 | Crowding out | Deficits, Debt and Crowding Out, The Loanable Funds Market |
| 5.6 | Economic growth | Economic Growth and Supply-Side Policy |
| 5.7 | Public policy and economic growth | Economic Growth and Supply-Side Policy |
Unit 6: Open Economy: International Trade and Finance 10–13%
| Topic | What you must know | Learn it here |
|---|---|---|
| 6.1 | Balance of payments accounts | Trade, Exchange Rates and the Balance of Payments |
| 6.2 | Exchange rates | Trade, Exchange Rates and the Balance of Payments |
| 6.3 | The foreign exchange market | The Foreign Exchange Market |
| 6.4 | Effect of policies and conditions on the foreign exchange market | The Foreign Exchange Market |
| 6.5 | Changes in the foreign exchange market and net exports | The Foreign Exchange Market |
| 6.6 | Real interest rates and international capital flows | The Foreign Exchange Market |
The weightings show how much of the multiple-choice section each unit takes. The free-response questions can come from any unit, and they often combine two.
How the free-response questions are marked
- Each point is for one specific thing. Readers look for the exact item the question asks for: a correctly labelled axis, the right shift, the correct area shaded, a direction (increase, decrease, no change) and, when asked, an explanation.
- Label everything. Axes (Price and Quantity, or the factor market labels), every curve (D, S, MR, MC, ATC, AVC), equilibrium values (P1, Q1) and new values after a change (P2, Q2). An unlabelled graph usually earns nothing.
- “Explain” means give the economic reason, usually in one sentence that links cause and effect, such as “because MR is less than price for a monopolist, it produces where MR = MC at a lower quantity than the allocatively efficient level”.
- Show your working on calculations. Write the formula, the numbers and the answer with units, for example “Profit = (P − ATC) × Q = ($12 − $9) × 40 = $120”.
- Answer every part even if you are unsure of an earlier one. Points are usually given for consistent follow-through, so a wrong answer in part (a) does not automatically lose the later points.
- Use the 10-minute reading period to plan, sketch graphs on scrap paper first, and spend roughly 25 minutes on the long question and 12 to 13 minutes on each short one.
Exam tipMacro free-response questions often chain two or three graphs together, for example an AD–AS graph, then the money market, then the foreign exchange market. Practise the full chains: an open market purchase lowers the nominal interest rate, raises investment and AD, and depreciates the currency because financial capital flows out.
Graphs you must be able to draw from memory
AD–ASSRAS, LRAS, recessionary and inflationary gaps
Long-run self-adjustmentSRAS shifting back to LRAS
Money marketvertical MS, downward MD, nominal interest rate
Loanable fundsreal interest rate, crowding out
Phillips curvesshort-run and long-run, natural rate
Foreign exchange marketsupply and demand for a currency
PPCgrowth and capital goods
Reserve requirement chainmoney multiplier calculation
10-week revision plan
| Week | Focus | Do this |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Units 1–2 | Supply and demand refresher, then GDP, unemployment and inflation calculations. |
| 2 | Unit 2 | Real versus nominal GDP, CPI and the business cycle. Practise every formula. |
| 3 | Unit 3, part 1 | AD, the multiplier, SRAS and LRAS. |
| 4 | Unit 3, part 2 | AD–AS shocks, gaps and self-adjustment. Draw twelve scenarios. |
| 5 | Unit 4, part 1 | Financial assets, money, banking and the money multiplier. |
| 6 | Unit 4, part 2 | Money market, monetary policy and loanable funds. Link the graphs. |
| 7 | Unit 5 | Phillips curve, quantity theory, deficits, crowding out and growth. |
| 8 | Unit 6 | Balance of payments and the foreign exchange market chains. |
| 9 | Mixed practice | Two timed 60-question multiple-choice sets. Review every miss. |
| 10 | Free response | Three past free-response sets under timed conditions, marked against the scoring guidelines. |
Common mistakes that cost points
Common mistakeShifting LRAS when only a short-run shock has happened. LRAS moves only when the economy’s productive capacity changes.
Common mistakeUsing the nominal interest rate on the loanable funds graph (it is the real rate) or the real rate on the money market graph (it is the nominal rate).
Common mistakeForgetting the multiplier: an increase in government spending of $10 billion with MPC 0.8 can raise real GDP by up to $50 billion.
Common mistakeSaying “the Fed prints money” for an open market purchase. It buys bonds, which increases bank reserves.
Common mistakeMixing up a currency appreciating with a fall in the quantity demanded of that currency.
Common mistakeStopping the chain early: AP free-response answers usually need every link, for example interest rate falls, investment rises, AD rises, real GDP rises.
Ready to practise at exam level?
Economics Made Simple covers every unit with diagrams and full answer keys. The bundle adds 450 practice questions, flashcards and 100 case studies.
Further reading
Our earlier article on this exam, with more background: