The Economist – World In Figures 2011

3 cert, iOS, ****

APP OF THE WEEK:  The Economist – World in Figures 2011has information on everything from entertainment and sport to social issues such as healthcare, crime and population density. It's clearly more than just a source of economic data, although your needs in that department will be met comfortably. Numbers, of course, can tell a compelling story, and the app has a comparison function whereby you can enter the subject, the countries you'd like compared, and see the stark differences in black and white. (Ireland has less hospital beds per capita than Ukraine?) Some of the figures could be a mite more contemporary (the cinemagoing per-capita list is from 2008, for example), and the random trivia can be shrug-inducing. Finland has the world's 32nd most crowded road networks? No way! But overall this informative app is nicely laid out and bursting with interesting statistics. It's a tool to make you either a more stimulating or infinitely duller conversationalist – so use it wisely.