The British watch more television than any other country in Europe: over three and a half hours per day. [Francoscopie, Larousse, 1997]
The number of women in parliaments worldwide has declined from 14.8 per cent in 1988 to 11.7 per cent today. [Le Monde Diplomatique, March 1997]
Public debt in the EU has risen from 55 per cent of GDP to more than 70 per cent since the adoption of the Maastricht treaty in 1991. [Prospect, April 1997, p25]
In the US, 35 per cent of adults are dangerously overweight, contributing to roughly 300,000 deaths a year. [International Herald Tribune, 8th-9th March 1997]
Immigrants in France represented 6.75 per cent of the French population in 1931. The figure had fallen to 6.43 per cent in 1996. [Le Monde Diplomatique, March 1997]
In Finland, 50 per cent of families do not have children. [Francoscopie, Larousse, 1997]
The average undertaker's bill in 1961 in America was $708, exclusive of cemetery charges. Today it is $4,700. [Vanity Fair, March 1997]
Academic honours for advances in genetics are currently spread evenly between Europe and the US, while over 90 per cent of all money spent on genetic research takes place in the US. [Economic Affairs, Institute of Economic Affairs, March 1997]
