Monthly Archives: May 2013

Percentage of the Population Living on $2 or Less a Day

surviving on a few dollars per day worldMIT economists Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo, conducted surveys in developing nations to see which countries survive on a few dollars per day. The cities or countries where people are known to live on meager dollar amounts on a daily bases are not that surprising, but the percentage of the population living under these conditions is.

In Udaipur and Hyderabad (India) a staggering 94% of the population survive on $2 or less per day. In Bangladesh, 69.4% go on $2 or less per day. In Ghana, 67.7% survive on $2 or less per day. In Guatemala, 64.8% of the population survive on $2 or less per day.

Source: GOOD: Living on Less

 

The World’s Largest Oil Reserves by Country

strategic oil reserves worldOil reserves are the amount of oil that can be technically and economically recovered from the ground.

Nations with the world’s largest oil reserves include Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, and Libya. Saudi Arabia, holds an approximate 234.5 billion barrels of oil reserves, and it has the largest market share for oil production after Russia. Saudi Arabia is followed by Venezuela, with an estimated 211.0 billion barrels of oil reserves, although its current oil production market share is only 3.2%.

By comparison, the United States has an estimated 30.9 billion barrels in oil reserves, and  8.7% market share in oil production.

Source: Spiegel Online: A World without Oil: Companies Prepare for a Fossil-Free Future

 

Drought Severity by Country (1901 – 2008)

drought severity worldThis map shows drought severity, measured as the product of the average length of a drought occurrence and how dry it was the drought. This visualization is based on data collected for the period between 1901 and 2008.

The red areas in the map show the regions most severely affected by droughts. The northern region of the African continent stands out as the largest area being affected by severe droughts. Southwestern Africa (Namibia and Botswana) has also been severely affected by droughts in the same period.

Some areas in the Andean region in South America (Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina) have also suffered the effects of severe droughts during the past century.

Parts of Australia and Russia have also been affected by extreme drought conditions.

Sources:

 

Condom Imports by Country

One of our visitors asked us if we had statistics on condom imports so we started looking through our trade section and found the data somewhat hidden under the category “sheath contraceptives of vulcanised rubber”. Anyway, the graph below shows the top 25 countries ranked by the value of their condom imports. You may also want to check our data on condom exports. Are you surprised by the rankings?

Condom imports by country

Women in the Workforce by Country

women and equality worldIt has been said, that if women participated in the workforce more actively, like their male counterparts, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of those countries would be higher.

However, most countries, including some developed nations do not have policies in place that support women’s participation in the workforce, such as access to education, credit, employment, paid maternity leave or child care.

Countries with the highest economic success for women (measured in terms of equality of pay, degree of inclusion in the workforce, and career advancement), that offer the best policies for supporting women in the workforce include Norway, Australia, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Belgium, and Iceland.

Countries with the lowest degree of economic success that have few policies (or none) that support women in the workplace include Chad, Sudan, Yemen, Pakistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, among others.

women and equality world 2Some interesting facts about the success of women in the workplace and the policies in place to support them in certain countries can be seen in the graphic above.

Source: Harvard Business Review: Vision Statement: Women and the Economics of Equality

 

Elimination of Chemical Weapons Worldwide

elimination of chemical weapons worldThe Organization for the Proliferation of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was created to oversee the elimination of existing chemical weapons and monitor the chemical industry to prevent the production of additional chemical weapons. The OPCW was created in 1997 in The Hague, Netherlands, with support from the United Nations (UN).

The OPCW has 188 members states, signatories of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Nations that did not sign the CWC include Syria, Egypt, South Sudan, Somalia, Angola, and North Korea. Myanmar signed it, but it has not ratified it to date.

As of 2012, 71% of global stockpiles of chemical weapons have been destroyed, 46% of the total amount of chemical munitions have been eliminated, and 100% of the chemical plants producing chemical weapons have been decommissioned.

Source: Ria Novosti News Agency: Infographics – Elimination of Chemical Weapons in the World

 

Crude Oil Exports and Imports by Country

crude net balance by countryVast quantities of crude oil are exported and imported each year. Some countries are net exporters (their oil exports are larger than their oil imports), and some are net importers (their oil imports are larger than their exports).

In this visualization by Data Driven Consulting, we can see that the United States was the largest net importer of crude oil in 2009. Other net importer countries include China, India, Japan, South Korea, Germany, Belgium, Italy, UK, Spain, Singapore, and Australia.

Among the net exporters of crude oil we find Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Norway, Venezuela, Mexico, and Canada.

For the full-size interactive dashboard, visit: Tableau Public: Exporters and Importers

 

North Korean Missiles

maximum range of north korean missiles

North Korea possesses a variety of missiles with different range capabilities. On one hand, there is the Scud-V with a range of less than 1,000 Km. that will easily reach South Korea, on the other there is the Taepodong-3 with a range of 10,000 Km. that could potentially reach the U.S. and Canada, as well as Europe.

In terms of balance in the conflict zone, North Korea outnumbers South Korea and the US forces combined in number of troops, tanks, aircraft and navy vessels.

Source: News Agency Ria Novosti

Suggested reading: The Brookings Institution: North Korea and Nuclear-Armed Missiles:  Calming the Hyperbole

 

Gun Shops in America

more gun shops thank grocery storesAccording to Statista.com, gun shops in the United States outnumber supermarkets, fast food restaurants, and coffee shops.

With a total of 51,438 outlets as of 2012, the number of gun shops in the U.S. is larger than the number of stores of Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Subway combined (a total of 50,439 stores).