World Ranking of Car Exporters

Global car exports by country were valued at US$698.2 billion for 2016. Cars represent the world’s number one export product, surpassing crude petroleum revenues handicapped by lower oil prices.

Below are the 15 countries that exported the highest dollar value worth of cars in 2016:

1. Germany: US$151.9 billion (21.8% of total car exports)
2. Japan: $91.9 billion (13.2%)
3. United States: $53.8 billion (7.7%)
4. Canada: $48.8 billion (7%)
5. United Kingdom: $41.3 billion (5.9%)
6. South Korea: $37.5 billion (5.4%)
7. Spain: $35.6 billion (5.1%)
8. Mexico: $31.4 billion (4.5%)
9. Belgium: $30.3 billion (4.3%)
10. Czech Republic: $18.8 billion (2.7%)
11. France: $18.4 billion (2.6%)
12. Slovakia: $15.5 billion (2.2%)
13. Italy: $15.2 billion (2.2%)
14. Thailand: $11.6 billion (1.7%)
15. Hungary: $11.1 billion (1.6%)

 Among the above countries, the fastest-growing car exporters since 2012 were Hungary (up 117%), Thailand (up 104.7%), Italy (up 64.5%) and Spain (up 41.6%). Four countries posted declines in their exported car sales: South Korea (down 11.6%), France (down -9.6%), Japan (down -5.7%) and the United States (down -1.4%). The listed 15 exporters accounted for 87.8% of global car exports by country during 2016. (World's Top Exports)

 

Light and dark blue countries represent small fractions of the overall market, no more than 2.7% of the total. The rose pink and salmon countries rise above the others, capturing 7-21.8% of the entire market. Source: how much

How Many Nukes Each Nuclear Country Has

Nearly 15,000 nuclear weapons exist today in the arsenals of these 9 nations. 14,995 to be exact. Only nine possess actual nuclear weapons: Russia, the United States, China, India, Israel, France, North Korea, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. North Korea may have more than triple the number of nuclear weapons that experts recently estimated.

While the exact number in each country's arsenal is often a closely guarded secret, some information is publicly available. Here's a breakdown of nuclear arsenals by country, based on data from leading experts in nuclear estimates. 

The failure of the nuclear powers to disarm has heightened the risk that other countries will acquire nuclear weapons. The only guarantee against the spread and use of nuclear weapons is to eliminate them without delay. Although the leaders of some nuclear-armed nations have expressed their vision for a nuclear-weapon-free world, they have failed to develop any detailed plans to eliminate their arsenals and are modernizing them. Source: ICAN 

The World in 2050

Will the shift in global economic power continue?  PriceWaterhouseCoopers (pwc) World in 2050 report presents economic growth projections for 32 of the largest economies in the world, accounting for around 84% of global GDP. They project the world economy to grow at an average of just over 3% per annum in the period2014–50, doubling in size by 2037 and nearly tripling by 2050.

 

The global economic power shift away from the established advanced economies in North America, Western Europe and Japan will continue over the next 35 years. China has already overtaken the US in 2014 to become the largest economy in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms. In market exchange rate (MER) terms, we project China to overtake the US in2028 despite its projected growth slowdown. 

 

 

By 2050, India will have overtaken the US as the world's second largest economy. The gap between the three biggest economies, China, India and the US, and the rest of the world will widen over the next few decades.

Countries with emerging economies today will overtake G7 countries in terms of GDP. E7 economies, China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Indonesia and Turkey, will, combined, dwarf the G7 economies, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US, by 2050.

Christianity will still be the dominant religion. However, Islam will be the fastest-growing religion. Atheism will rise, but not in the West mainly due to ageing populations and low fertility rates in countries such as Japan and China.

The world population will reach 9.6 billion. An increasingly large population may result in issues such as food shortages, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Humans are expected to live longer. The average life expectancy will be 76 by 2050.

Global CO2 emissions will steadily increase. In 2010, the world produced around 33 gallstones of CO2 - by 2050 its predicted to be 55.87 gigatonnes which could have truly disastrous effects.

Global Terrorism Index 2017

The yearly report, developed by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP) based on the Global Terrorism Database by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) as well as other sources, provides the most comprehensive resource on global terrorist trends. Measuring 163 countries and covering 99.7% of the world’s population, one of the principle aims of the Global Terrorism Index is to help us to understand the global, regional and local impact of terrorism.

For the second year in a row, the total number of global deaths from terrorism has declined. There have been 22% fewer deaths from terrorism since the peak of terror activity in 2014. There were significant declines in terrorism in four of the five countries most impacted by terrorism – Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. Collectively these four countries recorded 33 per cent fewer deaths. The intensity of global terrorism has decreased. However, it continues to spread to an increasing number of countries. There were 77 countries that experienced at least one death from terrorism in 2016. This is more than at any time in the past 17 years with two out of every three countries experiencing at least one attack. 

The largest reduction occurred in Nigeria where deaths attributed to Boko Haram decreased by 80% in 2016, as the terror group faced mounting pressure from the Multinational Joint Task Force. Iraq was the only country of the five most affected by terrorism to record an increase in deaths, primarily driven by ISIL as it increased suicide attacks and assaults on civilians to compensate for territorial losses. Total deaths attributed to ISIL increased by 50% in 2016, marking the group's deadliest year ever. The majority of the deaths occurred in Iraq, which accounted for 40% of the increase. Full Report: Vision of Humanity

Child Labor Around the World

A Bangladeshi child works in a brick-breaking yard in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The broken bricks are mixed in with concrete. Typically working barefoot and with rough utensils, a child worker earns less than $2 a day. (Mehedi Hasan)

The term “child labor” is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. 

An estimated 152 million children around the globe are doing work that prevents them from getting an education or that's harmful to their health. That's almost 1 in 10 children worldwide.

• Worldwide 218 million children between 5 and 17 years are in employment.
  Among them, 152 million are victims of child labor; almost half of them, 73 million, work in hazardous child labor.
• In absolute terms, almost half of child labor (72.1 million) is to be found in Africa; 62.1 million in the Asia and the Pacific; 10.7 million in the Americas; 1.2 million in the Arab States and 5.5 million in Europe and Central Asia.
• In terms of prevalence, 1 in 5 children in Africa (19.6%) are in child labor, whilst prevalence in other regions is between 3% and 7%: 2.9% in the Arab States (1 in 35 children); 4.1% in Europe and Central Asia (1 in 25); 5.3% in the Americas (1 in 19) and 7.4% in Asia and the Pacific region (1 in 14).
• Almost half of all 152 million children victims of child labor are aged 5-11 years.
  42 million (28%) are 12-14 years old; and 37 million (24%) are 15-17 years old.
• Hazardous child labor is most prevalent among the 15-17 years old. Nevertheless up to a fourth of all hazardous child labor (19 million) is done by children less than 12 years old.

• Among 152 million children in child labor, 88 million are boys and 64 million are girls.
• 58% of all children in child labor and 62% of all children in hazardous work are boys. Boys appear to face a greater risk of child labor than girls, but this may also be a reflection of an under-reporting of girls’ work, particularly in domestic child labour.
• Child labor is concentrated primarily in agriculture (71%), which includes fishing, forestry, livestock herding and aquaculture, and comprises both subsistence and commercial farming; 17% in Services; and 12% in the Industrial sector, including mining.Source: International Labor Organization

 

 

The IV Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour , held in Buenos Aires, concluded with a call to action to accelerate efforts to end child labor by 2025 and forced labour by 2030, and to generate more decent employment opportunities for young people around the world. 

Global Supply of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs)

Raw materials are crucial to the world. They form a strong industrial base, producing a broad range of goods and applications used in everyday life and modern technologies. Reliable and unhindered access to certain raw materials is a growing concern within the EU and across the globe. To address this challenge, the European Commission has created a list of critical raw materials (CRMs) for the EU, which is subject to a regular review and update. CRMs combine raw materials of high importance to the EU economy and of high risk associated with their supply.

Why critical raw materials are important?

• Link to industry - non-energy raw materials are linked to all industries across all supply chain stages
• Modern technology - technological progress and quality of life rely on access to a growing number of raw materials. For example, a smartphone might contain up to 50 different kinds of metals, all of which contribute to its small size, light weight and functionality.
• Environment – raw materials are closely linked to clean technologies. They are irreplaceable in solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and energy-efficient lighting.

China is the major supplier of critical raw materials, accounting for 70% of their global supply and 62% of their supply to the EU (e.g. rare earth elements, magnesium, antimony, natural graphite, etc.). Brazil (niobium), USA (beryllium and helium), Russia (palladium) and South Africa (iridium, platinum, rhodium and ruthenium) are also important producers of critical raw materials. The risks associated with the concentration of production are in many cases compounded by low substitution and low recycling rates. Source: European Commission

Every Country's Biggest Imports & Exports

From Israel's massive influx of diamonds to Nepal's unique speciality - exporting flavored water - every country has a unique set of natural resources and intricate economy. And with everything from cloves (Comoros) to cocoa beans (Ivory Coast) being a nation's biggest export, and recreational boats (Saint Kitts and Nevis) and diamonds (Israel) among a nation's biggest imports, some of the results are pretty interesting.

And with everything from cloves (Comoros) to cocoa beans (Ivory Coast) being a nation's biggest export, and recreational boats (Saint Kitts and Nevis) and diamonds (Israel) among a nation's biggest imports, some of the results are pretty interesting.

When it comes to the biggest import for each country, fuel dominates overall. In fact, 97 of 187 countries - over half - import some kind of fuel more than anything else, with crude petroleum (18 countries) and refined petroleum (74 countries) the most common. It does run the world, after all. 

Transportation is something of a surprise second place (54 countries), with fully manufactured products showing quite the contrast from some of the raw materials and fuels that many countries import. In fact, cars are imported by 26 countries more than anything else - including the likes of Australia, the UK and the USA - with passenger ships, special purpose ships and even planes, helicopters and spacecraft making up the rest of the total.

Food is the biggest import for many of the world's poorest and most remote countries, with the likes of Somalia, South Sudan and Syria importing food more than anything else. Of the 12 countries importing food and produce more than anything else, three import wheat, two pull in poultry and two more reap in rice.

The map shows a significant divide between the richest and poorest nations around the world, especially across American and Western Europe - most of which deals in transportation and technology more than anything else. Eastern Europe and Asia then switches the focus back to fuels, with the more remote and smaller island nations around the world also understandably needing to import fuel more than anything else.. And yes, the Central African Republic imports weapons more than anything else.

 

Things are a little more varied when it comes to each country's biggest export - every country's unique offering when it comes to natural resources, trades and skills is shown off in earnest here. Fuel is still the most common export overall, though only 53 of 187 countries export some kind of fuel more than anything else. Crude petroleum (24 countries) and refined petroleum (18 countries) split the difference here, though petroleum gas (11 countries) is also high on the list.

Metal, mineral and organic exports are in 2nd place, with 50 countries exporting raw materials above anything else. Gold is the biggest export among them, making up 16 of the 51 countries' greatest offering to the world. Indonesia and North Korea, on the other hand, export coal briquettes more than anything else - while Lebanon provides jewellery, Niger deals in radioactive chemicals, and Gambia and the Solomon Islands go back to basics with a largest export of rough wood.

Food is the biggest export for many countries - 35 of the 187 included - though it covers most of the smaller countries and island nations. This might explain why the foods also make for some of the more eclectic exports - concentrated milk (New Zealand), hard liquor (Barbados), grapes (Afghanistan), fish fillets (Maldives) and cloves (Comoros) are among the more unique items that make for a country's biggest export around the world.
Source: Vouchercloud

 

Global Vegetarian Index

The Global Vegetarian Index was published by Oliver’s Travels to help vegetarian travellers pick their next diet-friendly travel destination. To come up with this index, 183 countries were studied. Factors analysed include the number of vegetarian restaurants in the country in relation to the population size, as well as the annual meal consumption per capita. Scores were computed and the countries were ranked. 

The world’s most vegetarian-friendly country is none other than Seychelles, an island destination in the Indian Ocean. This country, with a Global Vegetarian Index score of 328, has a low meat consumption and the most vegetarian restaurants per person. In Seychelles, you’ll find a myriad of vegetarian dishes from breadfruit salad to seasonal veggies.
Coming up next on the list are two countries in Asia: Thailand and Malaysia. 

Here are the top 15:

1.  Seychelles
2. Thailand
3. Malaysia
4. Sao Tome & Principe
5. Peru
6. Singapore
7. Cambodia
8. Solomon Islands
9. United Kingdom
10. Botswana
11. India
12. Liberia
13. Belize
14. Sri Lanka
15. Japan

 Tripzilla

Global Hunger Index 2017

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger globally and by country and region. Calculated each year by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), the GHI highlights successes and failures in hunger reduction and provides insights into the drivers of hunger. By raising awareness and understanding of regional and country differences in hunger, the GHI aims to trigger actions to reduce hunger.

According to 2017 GHI scores, the level of hunger in the world has decreased by 27% from the 2000 level. Of the 119 countries assessed in this year’s report, one falls in the extremely alarming range on the GHI Severity Scale; 7 fall in the alarming range; 44 in the serious range; and 24 in the moderate range. Only 43 countries have scores in the low range. In addition, 9 of the 13 countries that lack sufficient data for calculating  2017 GHI scores still raise significant concern, including Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria.

To capture the multidimensional nature of hunger, GHI scores are based on four component indicators—undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality. The 27% improvement noted above reflects progress in each of these indicators according to the latest data from 2012–2016 for countries in the GHI:

• The share of the overall population that is undernourished is 13.0%, down from 18.2% in 2000.
• 27.8% of children under five are stunted, down from 37.7% in 2000.
• 9.5% of children under five are wasted, down from 9.9% in 2000.
• The under-five mortality rate is 4.7%, down from 8.2 % in 2000.

Source: 2917 Global Hunger Index

Countries Where Teachers Earn the Most

According to The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) latest data, teachers earn the highest salaries in this West European monarchy at the primary level with 15 years experience. Here teachers earn approximately US$98,788 per annum. Europe dominated the top ten countries with five of them coming from this continent.

 

The other European nation where teachers command a respectable salary is Germany; however, it comes a distant second. Compared to Luxembourg, teachers in Germany earn $62,195 per year. Other European nations among the top ten are Ireland, Netherlands, and Denmark where teachers earn an annual salary of approximately US$55,148, US$54,865, and US$51,122 respectively. Both the North American nations of the United States and Canada are also high paying countries for teachers. In Canada the annual salary for teachers is approximately US$58,495, while in the US it is US$45,998. The two Asian countries – Japan and South Korea – and Australia are also good places to be a teacher. In Japan teachers earn US$47,561 per annum, while in South Korea and Australia it is US$50,145 and US$51,289 respectively.

Barring New Zealand, all the other nations from the 11^th to the 20^th position are European. Meanwhile standing at the Lower five are the nations of Indonesia, Estonia, Slovak Republic, Hungary and Poland where teachers salary are US$19,74, US$ 12,525, US$13,365, US$13,520, and US$18,160 respectively. Source: Maps of the World

Road Deaths Around the World

ONE out of every 40 people who died in 2015 was killed in a vehicle accident, either as a driver, passenger or pedestrian. Globally, road accidents are less deadly than the most common killers around the world: cancers, ischaemic heart disease and strokes. According to the World Health Organisation,1.3m people were killed on roads out of 56.2m total deaths, or a death rate of 2.4%. In contrast, the death rates for cancers and heart disease was 15.5% each; it was 11.1% for strokes.

In some countries, roads are so perilous that the probability of dying from a vehicle impact is greater than from the most prevalent natural causes of death. The Middle East has the deadliest roads. Of the world’s eight countries with the highest rates, six border the Persian Gulf; a seventh, Jordan, sits next door. These mostly oil-rich states offer cheap petrol that encourages their citizens to drive. Their relatively weak enforcement of traffic laws, even where speed limits are high, leads to risky driving. (Venezuela, the only country in the top eight outside the Middle East, is also a big oil producer, bolstering the evidence for this explanation.) In Saudi Arabia, the interior minister argued that the decision to allow women to drive, announced this week, would greatly improve road safety, though he gave no explanation.

However, on current trends Africa may one day overtake the Middle East. All 12 of the countries that saw the biggest percentage increase road-related fatalities in 2000-15 were African. Source: The Economist

Languages That Are Written in More Than One Writing System

 

Ojibwe & Cree: Canadian aboriginal syllabics and latin alphabet
Hausa, Kanuri, Tajik, Malay, Central and Southern Kurdish, Brahui: arabic and latin scripts
Serbian/Bosnian, Karelian, Skolt Sami, Moldovan, Kazakh, Uzbekh: both cyrillic and latin alphabets
Afar and Oromo: latin, geez or arabic
Tulu: kannada, tulu or devnagri scripts
Punjabi: gurmukhi or kurmanji (arabic)
Santali: ol chiki alphabet or bengali or devnagri
Lao (in Thailand): lao or thai scripts
Zhuang: zhuang script or latin
Tagalog (and others in the Phillipines): baybayin and latin
Mongolian and Tungusic langs.: cyrillic (in Mongolia) or mongolian traditional script (in China; also different variations for Tungusic)
Japanese: hiragana, katakana, kanji and romaji
Javanese, Sundanese, Balinese, Buginese, Batak, Minangkabau, Renjang: latin alphabet + respective alphabet for each Indonesian language

Source: Linguistic Maps

The Most Violent Cities Worldwide

Out of the world's 50 most violent cities, 41 are in Latin America including 21 in Brazil. The Mexico Citizens Council for Public Security releases its findings on the homicide rate in cities with populations over 300,000 every year. This infographic shows the world's top 20 cities, with Caracas, Venezuela, in first place with 119.87 homicides per 100,000 residents in 2015.

San Pedro Sula, Honduras (111.03 homicides per 100,000) came second with San Salvador, El Salvador (108.54 homicides per 100,000) rounding off the top three. The majority of the violence in Latin America can be attributed to drug trafficking, gang warfare and political instability.Dource: statista

Greatest Threats Around the World

People around the globe identify ISIS and climate change as the leading threats to national security, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. While the level and focus of concern varies by region and country, ISIS and climate change clearly emerge as the most frequently cited security risks across the 38 countries polled.  Source: Pew Research Center

The Most Welcoming Cities in the World

 

Sights and attractions are great but sometimes what really makes an unforgettable trip is meeting and interacting with locals. Now, new research has ranked the most welcoming cities around the globe. The list was compiled by Dutch travel agency Travelbird.

 Singapore is the most welcoming city in the world

The rankings were determined by scoring the world’s 500 biggest cities for tourism on a range of factors, from how welcoming the port of entry is to the happiness of residents, from safety and security to the city’s openness to host tourists and general English language proficiency.  

   10 most welcoming cities

1. Singapore, Singapore – 8.22
2. Stockholm, Sweden – 8.02
3. Helsinki, Finland – 8.01
4. San Francisco, USA – 8.0
5. Rotterdam, Netherlands – 7.98
6. Lisbon, Portugal – 7.9
7. Tokyo, Japan – 7.89
8. Oslo, Norway – 7.88
9. Zurich, Switzerland – 7.84
10. Orlando, USA – 7.81

World Sustainable Cities Mobility index

 

 Sustainable mobility: Asian and European Cities lead the way:

• Hong Kong takes first place, followed by Zurich and Paris in the 2017 Sustainable Cities Mobility Index
• European cities lead on sustainable transport, making up seven of the top ten
• North American cities show opportunity for progress, not appearing in the top 20
• Cities encouraged to see mobility as a strategic area of competitive advantage and make bold moves to improve quality of life 

Cities benefiting from 'money, mass or maturity', namely high wealth, significant global cities, do not necessarily lead the ranking in sustainable urban mobility. Although these factors can help, we do see wealthy, large and/or older cities not automatically punching their ticket to sustainable urban mobility.  

"Cities are in part defined by their distinct urban mobility; installed to traverse their unique topographies and urban realities including density, demographics and design. Whether it's London's Tube, the Los Angeles freeways, Hong Kong's MTR system, Sydney's ferries or Amsterdam's bicycles, the prevailing urban transport system of a city is a distinguishing feature that enables the mobility of residents, travelers, goods and services -- providing the foundation for economic growth." 

"Cities and their policymakers face enormous pressures as they seek to meet today's mobility challenges. As rapid urbanization, aging infrastructure, population growth and climate change continue to challenge our world's cities, those that choose to make bold moves in advancing and diversifying their urban transport systems will gain a competitive edge -- we see that investing in improved and sustainable mobility will give cities enhanced productivity, attractiveness and overall quality of life." (John Batten, Global Cities Director at Arcadis)  Source: Arcadis

Six of the Most Widely-spoken Languages in Africa

Source: eLearning Africa

Countries Where Alcohol Consumption is Banned

The reason for a country to be categorized as a ‘dry country,’ is mainly because of religious reasons. Some countries have a partial or an all-out ban on alcohol because they adhere to strict religious laws and beliefs. Mainly these ‘dry countries,’ follow Islamic Sharia Law, which forbids alcohol. Source:  Maps of the World

Global City Housing Affordability Index

As people around the world move into cities and look for housing, one thing is clear: Most will have a hard time paying for it. Average monthly take-home pay won’t cover the cost of buying a 1,000-square-foot residence or renting a three-bedroom home in any of the 105 metropolitan areas ranked by the Bloomberg Global City Housing Affordability Index – based on a general rule of thumb among U.S. lenders that people should spend no more than 28 percent of net income on housing costs. Only 12 cities would be considered affordable if they spend 50 percent. 

The Bloomberg index calculates the affordability of renting or buying in city centers and suburbs. Rankings are based on self-reported data, including net salary and mortgage interest rates, compiled by Numbeo.com, an online database of city and country statistics.

Source: Bloomberg Business