CO2 emissions from shipping are twice the level of aviation.

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The number of pounds in circulation in the UK doubles every 15 years due to economic growth and inflation.

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Between 2002 and 2006, the incomes of 99% of Americans rose by an average of 1% a year in real terms, while those of the top 1% rose 11% a year.

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Beijing's economy accounts for less than 5% of China's GDP.

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Qatar's 950,000 residents - the richest in the world - enjoy an income per person of $80,870.

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The death rate from AIDS peaked in 2005 - at 2.2 m - and has been falling since.

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Some 255m people have mobile phones in America, and about 2/3rds of these, in almost every age group, use text-messaging.

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Over 1 million oil wells have been drilled in Texas alone. On the other hand, Iraq has only 2,300 oil wells in total.

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Over 45m Americans are uninsured.

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This year, China overtook America as the country with the largest number of internet users - over 250m.

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In a typical developing country, an increase of 10 mobile phones per 100 people boosts GDP growth by 0.6 percentage points.

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Some 600,000 cosmetic operations are performed in Brazil annually, the highest total of any country apart from the US.

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In America, nearly 30,000 organ transplants are now carried out per year; an average of 82 a day.

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Baby boomers - born between 1946 and 1964 - total about 78m Americans in all.

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There are up to 4.2m CCTV cameras in Britain - about one for every 14 people.

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Jobs in finance make up 4% of the UK's workforce - and account for 13% of the income tax paid.

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