exacerbate the problems of pollution,
desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine.
GWP (gross world product):
purchasing power equivalent - $25 trillion, per capita $4,600; real growth
rate 1.3% (1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
developed countries 5%; developing countries 50%, with wide variations (1991
est.)
Unemployment rate:
NA%
Exports:
$3.34 trillion (f.o.b., 1991 est.)
commodities:
the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
partners:
in value, about 75% of exports from developed countries
Imports:
$3.49 trillion (c.i.f., 1991 est.)
commodities:
the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
partners:
in value, about 75% of imports by the developed countries
External debt:
$1.0 trillion for less developed countries (1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 3% (1990 est.)
Electricity:
2,864,000,000 kW capacity; 11,450,000 million kWh produced, 2,150 kWh per
capita (1990)
Industries:
industry worldwide is dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in
computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical
equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small
portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these
technological forces, and the technological gap between the industrial
nations and the less-developed countries continues to widen; the rapid
development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating
already grim environmental problems

:World Economy

Agriculture:
the production of major food crops has increased substantially in the last
20 years. The annual production of cereals, for instance, has risen by 50%,
from about 1.2 billion metric tons to about 1.8 billion metric tons;
production increases have resulted mainly from increased yields rather than
increases in planted areas; while global production is sufficient for
aggregate demand, about one-fifth of the world's population remains
malnourished, primarily because local production cannot adequately provide
for large and rapidly growing populations, which are too poor to pay for
food imports; conditions are especially bad in Africa where drought in
recent years has exacerbated the consequences of all other factors
Economic aid:
NA

:World Comm