Education As the statistics show, enrolment in Primary Education is growing apace as progress is made in particular in the developing world, partly on foot of the Millennium Development Goals which prioritized primary school enrolment. However, almost 1 in 10 children globally are still out of school and a disproportionate number of these (60%) are girls. Enrollment in Higher Education has also grown but remains at a low level globally, with huge disparities between nations in the developed and the developing world. The correlation with GDP is consistent, but what is worthy of note is a slight decline in the percentage of GDP allocated to education in part impacted by the last recession. It is heartening to see that the gender gap is closing with regard to Higher Education enrolment, but as stated above this picture changes dramatically when we compare the developed and the developing world, and is not matched by enrolments at primary school level. Health As we look at the data, life expectancy has increased over the years which is widely acknowledged. What stands out is that the difference in the life expectancy of female versus male has remained the same over the years. It is evident, as a countries allocate more funds towards Health the country’s population is benefiting from it. It is interesting to note that the fertility rate is going down as the GDP improves. Small Business As a business friendly environment is created, the rate of New Business registered is going up. The correlation with GDP is evident. It is worth noting that the peak of Small Business activity was prior to the last recession.
Climate Change Climate change is a controversial topic. Looking at the data, we can confirm some of the known variables. There is a direct correlation between GDP and CO2 emission. As the economy of a country improves CO2 emission increases. This phenomenon is not dependent on the source of electricity production. Also as a countries population increases so does the CO2 emission. You will notice a similar trend when we compare some of the top countries in terms of economy and population. Data also shows that the average temperature is on the rise. You will notice that the temperature rise is not a steady incline. All the projection models indicate temperature rising over the years. |