Tag Archives: China

The Global Public Debt Clock is Ticking

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Global public debt is increasing every second. This debt clock shows government debt, in dollar terms, for almost all countries. Governments with the highest debt include the United States, Canada, Brazil, Australia, India, China, and several western European nations.

Additional indicators such as public debt per person, public debt as percentage of GDP, total annual debt change, and country debt comparisons can be seen in the interactive map at: The Economist: The global debt clock

 

Migrant Remittances Continue to Rise

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Migrant remittances to developing countries are expected to reach $406 billion in 2012, a 6.5 percent increase over the previous year, and $534 billion in 2015. These officially recorded remittances have kept increasing despite high remittance costs and the financial crisis. This source of income for developing economies constitutes more than three times the size of Official Development Assistance (ODA).

The highest recipients of migrant remittances among developing economies for 2012 are India, China, the Philippines and Mexico. As a percentage of GDP, the highest recipients in 2011 were Tajikistan, Liberia, the Kyrgyz Republic and Lesotho.

Resources:

 

Cigarette Smoking Rates Around the World

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A color-coded map featured in an article by the Washington Post, shows annual per capita smoking rates by country. Serbia, Russia, and other countries in Eastern Europe, are the heaviest smokers, with an average consumption of 2,000 cigarettes per person per year. These countries are followed by Japan and South Korea, with China catching up. The U.S. and Canada are in the middle with an average consumption of 750 to 1,249 cigarettes per person per year. The healthiest countries tend to be poor countries located in Sub-Saharan Africa and in Southeast Asia, with an average consumption of up to 250 cigarettes per person per year.

Related Links:

  1. Kremlin Cracks Down on Big Tobacco – World Smoking Habits Data [Wall Street Journal]
  2. Key Facts About Smoking – [American Lung Association]

 

Life Expectancy vs. Fertility Rates Worldwide 1960-2010

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During the last fifty years, we have seen the gradual increase in life expectancy and the corresponding decrease in fertility rates worldwide. This is clearly the case of countries like China, India, the United States, Brazil, Japan, and Gabon, where dramatic improvements can be seen. On the other hand, countries like Russia, South Africa and Afghanistan, show moderate improvement.

It is very interesting to note, that although they have improved, a large cluster of African countries remain far from the overall trend, with lower life expectancy rates and higher fertility rates. For more information, check Google’s interactive bubble chart based on World Bank data.

 

Will China Dominate the World Beer Market?

According to a report by the Kirin Institute of Food and Lifestyle, in 2010 China remained the largest consumer of beer for the eight consecutive year. China’s beer consumption increased 5.9% with respect to 2009, with a share of 24.5% of total world beer consumption.

In the world trade arena, though, China is still a small player. China’s imports of beer for 2010 amounted to only 0.56% of total world beer imports, way below the United States (37%), France (6.8%) and the UK (6.6%). China’s exports for the same year amounted to only 1.4% of total world beer exports, below Mexico (21%), the Netherlands(19%), Germany (13%), and the United States (3.4%) to name a few. However, because of the size of China’s economy, there is a huge potential for the world’s largest beer exporters to see China with a lot of optimism. Read more…

 

Rare Earth Metals and Their Importance in Today’s Economy

  1. Rare-earth mining in China comes at a heavy cost for local villages [The Guardian]
  2. Rare earth metals: North Korea’s new trump card [The Korea Herald]
  3. EU Fights to Catch Chinese in Greenland Rare-earths Gold Rush – Agence France-Presse [Industry Weekly]
  4. World Trade Organization to Investigate China’s Limits on Rare-Earth Exports – Marketwire [SYS-CON Media]
  5. Rare Earth Elements – Dr. Ileana Johnson Paugh [Canada Free Press]