Excerpt from Human Development Report 1998
UNDP One child born in New York City, Paris or London will consume, waste and pollute more in a lifetime than as many as 50 children born in the average developing country.The wealthiest 20% of the world's people use 58% of the world's energy and consume 45% of all meat and fish. They own 87% of the world's vehicles and have access to 74% of all telephone lines.
Poor households typically spend more than half of their income on food. Still, about one-fifth of the 4.4 billon people living in developing countries are malnourished.
By 2050 8 billion of the world's projected 9.5 billion people, up from about 6 billion today, will be living in developing nations.
A 1986 survey showed that citizens in the US believed they needed an income of at least US$50,000 a year to "fulfil their dreams" By 1994, the figure had doubled.
Public spending on primary and secondary education averages $15,500 per person in Luxembourg, and $57 in China.
Public and private spending on health care averages about $2,000 per person in Finland, and $3 in Vietnam.
The average person in North America uses twice as much electricity as someone in the European Union, and 14 times more energy than someone in the developing world.
An additonal $6 billion a year would be needed to achieve universal basic education -- about $2 billion less than what is currently spent in the USA alone on cosmetics.
An additional $13 billion a year would be needed to ensure basic health and nutrition for all -- a fraction of the amount spent in Europe on cigarettes ($50 billion) or on alcoholic drinks ($105 billion).
At the end of 1997, more than 30 million people were living with HIV. With about 16,000 new infections a day, 90 percent in developing nations, it is estimated that over 40 million people will be living with AIDS in 2000.
An additional $9 billion a year would be required to provide clean water and sanitation worldwide. That is about half the money currently spent on pet food in Europe and the USA.
In 1997 the world spent $435 billion on advertising, mostly in Europe, North America and Japan. That is nearly 8 times the amount that was channeled to the developing world in the form of offical development assistance.
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