Overview: Real global output - gross world product (GWP) - rose roughly 2% in 1993, with results varying widely among regions and countries. Average growth of 1% in the GDP of industrialized countries (57% of GWP in 1993) and average growth of 6% in the GDP of less developed countries (37% of GWP) were partly offset by a further 10% drop in the GDP of the former USSR/Eastern Europe area (now only 6% of GWP). Within the industrialized world the US posted a 3% growth rate whereas both Japan and the 12-member European Union (formerly the European Community) had zero growth. With the notable exception of Japan at 2.5%, unemployment was typically 6-11% in the industrial world. The US accounted for 22% of GWP in 1993; Western Europe accounted for 22.5%; and Japan accounted for 9%. These are the three "economic superpowers" which are presumably destined to compete for mastery in international markets on into the 21st century. As for the less developed countries, China, India, and the Four Dragons--South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore--once again posted good records; however, many other countries, especially in Africa, continued to suffer from drought, rapid population growth, inflation, and civil strife. Central Europe, especially Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic, made considerable progress in moving toward "market-friendly" economies, whereas the 15 ex-Soviet countries typically experienced further declines in output of 10-15%. Externally, the nation-state, as a bedrock economic-political institution, is steadily losing control over international flows of people, goods, funds, and technology. Internally, the central government in a number of cases is losing control over resources as separatist regional movements - typically based on ethnicity - gain momentum, e.g., in the successor states of the former Soviet Union, in former Yugoslavia, and in India. In Western Europe, governments face the difficult political problem of channeling resources away from welfare programs in order to increase investment and strengthen incentives to seek employment. The addition of nearly 100 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems, the industrialized countries have inadequate resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. (For the specific economic problems of each country, see the individual country entries in this volume.)

National product: GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power equivalent - $29 trillion (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate: 2% (1993 est.)

National product per capita: $5,200 (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
developed countries: 5% (1993 est.)
developing countries: 50% (1993 est.)
note: these figures vary widely in individual cases

Unemployment rate: developed countries typically 6%-11%; developing countries, extensive unemployment and underemployment (1993)

Exports: $3.64 trillion (f.o.b., 1992 est.)
commodities: the whole range of industrial and agricultural goods and services
partners: in value, about 75% of exports from the developed countries

Imports: $3.82 trillion (c.i.f., 1992 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 trillion for less developed countries (1993 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate -1% (1992 est.)

Electricity:
capacity: 2,864,000,000 kW
production: 11.45 trillion kWh
consumption per capita: 2,150 kWh (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

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 intensified the consequences of overpopulation

Economic aid: $NA

NOTE: The information regarding World on this page is re-published from the 1995 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of World Economy 1995 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about World Economy 1995 should be addressed to the CIA.