In the US, ethnic minorities will make up the majority of the population by 2050: more than one third of primary school pupils are black or hispanic, up from 22 per cent in 1974. [Wall Street Journal, 3rd February 1997]
Twenty-five years ago, 25 per cent of Britons had been abroad on business or pleasure in the preceeding 2 years. Now the figure is 50 per cent. [Bob Tyrrell, Henley Centre]
Two thirds of Chinese overseas students fail to return to China after completing their education. [US Chronicle of Higher Education, 23rd January 1997]
A child born in New York today is less likely to live to five than a child born in Shanghai. [Larry Summers, US Deputy Treasury Secretary, Davos, January 1997]
Czechs are the world's greatest beer drinkers at 170 litres per head each year. [Datamonitor, 27th January 1997]
Americans are taking over in Hong Kong: they number 37,000 compared to 27,000 Britons. US direct investment totals $13.8 billion. [International Herald
Tribune, 4th February 1997]
Average age for a teenager in Britain to lose his/her virginity is 15.6 years, the youngest in Europe. [European Youth Survey, MTV, February 1997]
New books published in Britain in 1996 increased to 101,504 from 95,064 in 1995. New volumes of poetry numbered 2,311. Prices are up too: the average cost of a fiction paperback is ?6.39. [Times Literary Supplement, 7th February 1997]
