Tag Archives: Nigeria

The Global Slavery Index 2013

Slavery still exists in many parts of the world, whether it be in the form of forced labor, forced domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, debt bondage, bonded labor, or child marriage.

The Global Slavery Index provides insight into the number of people enslaved in 162 countries. The index takes into account three indicators: the prevalence of slavery per population, child marriage, and human trafficking.

India is a the top of the list with the largest absolute number of enslaved people, an estimated 14 million. China comes in second place with an estimated 2 million people enslaved. Pakistan is in third place with an estimated 2.1 million people in slavery. These countries are followed by Nigeria, Ethiopia, Russia, Thailand, Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Put together, these countries account for 76% of the total enslaved people, or 29.8 million people, in the 162 countries that make up this ranking.

Source: Walk Free Foundation: The Global Slavery Index 2013

Cannabis Consumption by Country

Uruguay is on its way to legalize the production and consumption of cannabis, only waiting for the senate to pass the new bill. According to The Economist, more than 8% of Uruguay’s population ages 15 to 64 smoked cannabis in 2011, a higher percentage than in previous years.

Consumption of cannabis has also increased worldwide. Countries with the highest levels of consumption of cannabis in 2012, 10% or more of the population, include Italy, Nigeria, Australia, the United States, and Canada.

Bribes Around the World

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977 was enacted for the purpose of making it illegal for individuals or entities to make payments to foreign government officials in order to obtain business in a particular country. So far about 200 FCPA violations have been covered in 80 countries.

The darker the color of a country on the map above, the larger the FCPA violations in that country. FCPA violations have been found in different economic sectors: energy, manufacturing, agriculture, consulting, health and pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, defense and aerospace, and infrastructure.

The country with the largest number of FCPA violations is Nigeria, with the majority of bribery cases in the energy sector. Nigeria is followed by Argentina, China, Russia, Iran, and Iraq.

For the interactive map and links to documentation for every FCPA violation, please visit: The Mintz Group: Where the Bribes Are – Penalties in U.S. Government FCPA Cases Since 1977

The Quality of Democracy by Country

Global Democracy Ranking released the Democracy Ranking for the year 2012, which shows the quality of democracy around the world.

Several indicators were used to calculate the Global Democracy Ranking. Those indicators were selected from a vast variety of dimensions such as politics, economy, environment, gender equality, education, health, and knowledge.

As seen in the map above, countries ranked at the top (dark green), those with the highest quality of democracy include Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, New Zealand, Germany, Ireland, and Austria. In contrast, we find countries where democracy is at serious risk or where it is no longer a viable system (brown). Among these countries we have Yemen, Syria, Libya, Togo, Guinea-Bissau, China, Pakistan, Egypt, Nigeria, and Haiti.

Source: Global Democracy Ranking: Democracy Ranking 2012

Worldwide Remittance Flows

Remittances, or money sent by migrant workers to their home countries, have increased since the year 2000. Although, they temporarily decreased after the economic crisis back in 2008, they recovered in 2010 and continued to rise. Remittances increased from $204 billion back in 2000 to $540 billion in 2012.

Countries with the highest remittance inflows include India ($71 billion), China ($62 billion), Mexico, the Philippines, Nigeria, Egypt, and France. Only nine countries saw a reduction in remittance inflows, among them Greece and Turkey which experienced the steepest decline.

For the interactive map, please visit: Tages Woche: The incredible rise of migrants’ remittances

Basic Salary of Lawmakers by Country

How much lawmakers are paid is a sensitive issue especially in times of economic austerity, or in countries where the majority of the population lives in extreme poverty conditions.

In this chart prepared by The Economist, we can see how much lawmakers are being paid in different countries across the globe in U.S. dollars (left), and as a ratio of the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita (right).

In Nigeria, for example, lawmakers receive a basic salary of $189,000, 116 times the country’s GDP per capita. In Kenya a lawmaker makes a basic salary of $74,500, 76 times the country’s GDP per capita. Other countries were lawmakers receive the heftiest salaries include Ghana, Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, Thailand, and India. It is worth pointing out that most of these countries are some of the poorest in the world.

In comparison, in the wealthiest nations a lawmaker’s salary as a ratio of GDP is much smaller. In Britain, that ratio is 2.7 of the GDP per capita.

Millennium Development Goals Progress Index for 2013

Based on the data published by The Guardian, we have created this map that shows the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Progress Index for 2013.

The top countries that have accelerated their progress in meeting the MDGs in 2013 compared to 2012 include Nigeria, Turkey, Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Paraguay, and Panama.

On the other side of the spectrum, the top countries that have slowed down their progress to meet the MDG’s in 2012 compared to 2012 include Nigeria, Jordan, and Kyrgyzstan.

The Most and Least Racially Tolerant Countries

A survey conducted by two Swedish economists asked respondents in 80 countries what kind of people they would not like as neighbors, to which many replied “people of a different race”.

The results from that survey are displayed in this map published by the Washington Post. According to the survey, people in English-speaking, Scandinavian, and Latin American countries are the most racially tolerant, with the exception of Venezuela. South Africa shows to be a tolerant country, while the attitudes in Europe show a lot of variation. People in countries such as France, Turkey, India, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Nigeria, South Korea, and Indonesia are the least racially tolerant.

Sexual Well-Being Around the World

click to enlarge

Durex, the condoms manufacturing company, conducted a survey of 26,000 people in 26 countries, asking about their sexual well-being. The results are summarized in an interactive map that allows you to see how each participant countries rates in terms of frequency of sex versus sexual satisfaction levels. For Nigeria, for example, 53% of respondents were having sexual intercourse weekly, with 67% reported being satisfied. For Greece, 87% of respondents were having sexual intercourse weekly, with 51% being satisfied. For Japan, 34% of respondents were having sexual intercourse weekly, the lowest amongst the participant countries, with only 15% being satisfied, also the lowest rate of the surveyed populations.

For the interactive map, visit: Durex: Sexual Wellbeing Survey – Frequency of Sex versus Satisfaction Levels

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