. Assets of the world's 358 billionaires exceed the combined annual income of almost half of the world's people.
. Some 70 per cent of the world's poor are female, and women earn 75 per cent of men's income.
. AIDS is the leading cause of death for adults under 45 years of age in Europe and North America, and it will cut life expectancy in Africa from 62 to 47 years by the end of this century.
. 18 million people worldwide have been infected with HIV, and 2.5 million have died of AIDS. Every day, infections occur at the rate of one every 15 seconds.
. The gross domestic product of industrial countries was $18 trillion in 1993, out of a world total of $23 trillion. With nearly 80 per cent of the world's people, developing countries had only $5 trillion.
. Ireland had the third highest rate of unemployment among "high human development" industrial nations in 1993, while joblessness was most widespread in Spain and Finland.
. Ireland's women had the lowest earned income share percentage in 1993 among top industrial nations, and this was also below the average in the world's least developed countries.
. The Uruguay Round of trade talks will produce $200 billion a year in global benefits, but the poorest countries of Africa will lose $8 million annually in exports.
. The world spent $778 billion on the military in 1994, with Ireland spending less per capita than any other country in western Europe. South Asia spent $14 billion on defence in 1994, while 562 million of its people lived in absolute poverty.
. The suicide rate for Irish women was markedly below the average for the most developed countries, at three per 100,000 people. Ireland also had the second lowest male suicide rate in this period.
. Ireland recorded the third highest percentage of total government expenditure on unemployment benefits in 1991.
. Denmark is the world's most generous donor, while the US is the least.
. Ireland spent more on official development assistance as a percentage of arms spending in 1994 than the average among the most developed countries, but it was lower than the EU average.
. Austria recycled 26 times as much paper and cardboard than Ireland did from 1990 to 1993, and the Republic has one of the worst recycling records among industrial nations.