WIDESPREAD ECONOMIC GROWTH IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, SAYS 1996 WORLD ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SURVEY
Press Release
DEV/2113
WIDESPREAD ECONOMIC GROWTH IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES, SAYS 1996 WORLD ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL SURVEY
19960618 NEW YORK, 18 June (DESIPA) -- Real income per person is rising this year in over 80 per cent of the developing economies, where 96 per cent of the population of the developing world lives, states the World Economic and Social Survey 1996, which will be released next week by the Department for Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis (DESIPA), as the Economic and Social Council begins its substantive session at Headquarters on 24 June.In 1995, according to the Survey (document E/1996/60), gross domestic product (GDP) per capita rose in three quarters of the developing economies, accounting for 90 per cent of the developing world's population. In contrast, little over half the developing economies had rising per capita income in 1993. In addition, the Survey reports strong economic growth continuing in central and eastern Europe, stating that the Russian Federation will record its first year of growth since the collapse of the Soviet Union, assuming current policies continue.
Those trends suggest that "domestic factors have been important sources of economic growth in developing and transition economies", says the Survey, adding that "these countries are increasingly seen as important markets and potential stimuli to growth in the developed economies".
According to the Survey, developed economies will grow 2 per cent in 1996, with only a modest improvement forecast for 1997 (2.5 per cent). "The world economy is in a slowly accelerating growth path", it states. Global GDP growth passed from 1 per cent a year in 1992-1993 to close to 2.5 per cent in 1994-1996, and over 3 per cent is forecast for 1997.
The Survey also investigates business investment in the world economy. It discusses questions such as the following: why some countries have a lot of investment activity and others disappointing amounts; why investment sometimes goes into leading sectors and other times is wasteful; and why government policies sometimes boost investment and sometimes do not. The analysis is carried out through more than a dozen case studies of very different situations, ranging from Japan to Cambodia, Chile to Haiti, and Tunisia to South Africa.
- 2 - Press Release DEV/2113 18 June 1996
In the light of the just-concluded second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), the Survey also looks at the demography of urban population growth, electricity capacity in developing countries, and the looming crisis in available freshwater. In addition, it analyses trade in business services, including communications, computer software and financial services.
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NOTE:The World Economic and Social Survey 1996 (Sales No. E.96.II.C.1) may be obtained in English, French and Spanish at $55.00 per copy ($19.95 for students) from the Sales Section, 2 United Nations Plaza, Room DC2-853, New York, NY 10017, tel: (800) 253-9646 or (212) 963-8302; fax: (212) 963-3489; e-mail: publications@un.org or Palais des Nations, CH-1211, Geneva, tel: 41-22-917-261; fax 41-22-917-0027; Internet: http://www.un.org/Pubs.