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The following statistics highlight the urgency of the drive for lower consumption–and birthrates.

WORLD POPULATION

1965: 3.3 billion
1995: 5.7 billion
2025, midlevel projection: 8.3 billion

NET POPULATION INCREASE

per second: 3
per hour: 10,600
per day: 254,000

PERCENTAGE USE OF BIRTH CONTROL WORLDWIDE

1983: 45%
1994: 57%

FERTILITY RATE PER WOMAN WORLDWIDE

1950: 4.97
1990: 3.38

FERTILITY RATE IN ITALY, 1990 (world’s lowest): 1.3

FERTILITY RATE IN RWANDA, 1990 (world’s highest): 8.5

PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION IN DEVELOPING WORLD

1965: 71%
1995: 80%
2025: 85%

PERCENTAGE OF WORLD’S POPULATION IN URBAN AREAS

1965: 36%
1995: 45%
2025: 61%

WORLD’S LARGEST URBAN AREA, 1995

Tokyo: 26.8 million

ANNUAL CONSUMPTION OF ENERGY PER CAPITA

(expressed in kilograms of oil)
United States: 7,662
China: 601
Mali: 22

CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS PER CAPITA, 1991

United States: 19.53 metric tons
China: 2.20 metric tons
Mali: 0.04 metric tons

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