1.3 billion people live on less than $1 dollar a day;
About 840 million people are malnourished;
One in five of the world's children of primary school age is out of school;
100 million people are homeless;
12 per cent of people in the richest countries live in poverty;
2.6 billion people have no access to sanitation;
Two billion people have no electricity;
In New York City, 52 per cent of children are born into poverty;
Sweden and the US have over 600 phone-lines per 1,000; Afghanistan has one;
The average Bangladeshi would have to work more than eight years to pay for a computer, the average American needs only one month's wage;
20 million Chinese will buy mobile phones next year;
11 people are infected with AIDS/HIV every minute; 95 per cent of cases occur in developing countries;
AIDS causes 2.3 million deaths a year;
Nearly 13 million children have been orphaned by AIDS
There are 31 million refugees and displaced persons in the world;
The total debt of developing countries stands at $2.2 trillion;
8,000 to 10,000 children are maimed or killed by landmines every year;
Malaria and measles each kill one million people a year;
Four diseases nearly eradicated: polio, guinea worm, neonatal tetanus, leprosy;
Four diseases identified since 1995: nipah virus, avian flu, new variant CJD, Kaposi sarcoma virus;
The 5 least developed countries: Burundi, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Niger, Sierra Leone;
The 5 most corrupt countries: Cameroon, Nigeria, Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan;
Since 1970 40 per cent of the forests on the earth have disappeared;
The availability of water today is 60 per cent of 1970 levels;
3,000 of the world's 6,000 languages are endangered;
Compiled by Paul Cullen. Sources include: UNDP, WHO, UNICEF, Dataquest, Forbes, the Economist and Transparency International.