In China 68 per cent of those questioned in a Gallup survey said that their philosophy was to "work hard and get rich," compared to only 4 per cent who said they never thought of themselves and would "give everything in service to society." [Gallup China, 1995]
Japan bans the contraceptive pill and has the highest rate of abortion in the world, with a total of 400,000 terminations per year. [Gerald Segal, International Institute for Strategic Studies]
Britain has a large employment surplus with Germany: 62,000 Britons work in Germany, compared with 21,000 Germans in Britain. [Business Age, March 1996]
About 480 handguns are owned in the US for every one owned in England and Wales: 138,400 handgun certificates are held in England and Wales and 66.7m in the US. [Home Office]
An estimated 55,000 people regularly pass through the McDonald's restaurant in central Beijing every day. [Richard Robison and David Goodman in The New Rich in Asia]
Indians use 73 kilos of fertilisers on an hectare of cropland; Germans use half a tonne (500 kilos). [Rowland Morgan in Digitations]
Non-meat eaters have doubled since 1984 to a record 4.5 per cent of Britons, with an extra 7 per cent avoiding red meat. [Business Age, March 1996]
In 1959 there were more than 3,000 hospitals and around 550,000 beds. By last year, Britain had lost over 1,000 hospitals and around 250,000 beds. [Business Age, March 1996]
