Overview: Real global output - gross world product (GWP) - rose one-half of 1% in 1992, with results varying widely among regions and countries. Average growth of 1.5% in the GDP of industrialized countries (62% of GWP in 1992) and average growth of 5% in the GDP of less developed countries (30% of GWP) were offset by a further 15-20% drop in the GDP of the former Soviet-East European area (now only 8% of GWP). The United States accounted for 23% of GWP in 1992; the 12-member European Community, which established a single internal market on 1 January 1993, accounted for another 23%, and Japan accounted for 10%. These are the three "economic superpowers" presumably destined to compete for mastery in international markets on into the 21st century. In general, growth in the industrialized countries was sluggish in 1992, with unemployment typically at 7-11%. As for the less developed countries, China, India, and the Four Dragons - South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore - posted good records; however, many other countries, especially in Africa, suffered bitterly from drought, rapid population growth, and civil strife. The continued plunge in production in practically all the former Warsaw Pact economies strained the political and social fabric of these newly independent nations, in particular in Russia. The addition of nearly 100 million people each year to an already overcrowded globe is exacerbating the problems of pollution, desertification, underemployment, epidemics, and famine. Because of their own internal problems, the industrialized countries have inadequate resources to deal effectively with the poorer areas of the world, which, at least from the economic point of view, are becoming further marginalized. (For the specific economic problems of each country, see the individual country entries in this volume.)

National product: GWP (gross world product) - purchasing power equivalent - $25.6 trillion (1992 est.)

National product real growth rate: 0.5% (1992 est.)

National product per capita: $4,600 (1992 est.)

note: these figures vary widely in individual cases

Unemployment rate: developed countries typically 7-11%; developing countries, extensive unemployment and underemployment (1992)

External debt: $1 trillion for less developed countries (1992 est.)

Industrial production: growth rate -1% (1992 est.)

Electricity: 2,864,000,000 kW capacity; 11,450,000 million kWh produced, 2,150 kWh per capita (1990)

Industries: industry worldwide is dominated by the onrush of technology, especially in computers, robotics, telecommunications, and medicines and medical equipment; most of these advances take place in OECD nations; only a small portion of non-OECD countries have succeeded in rapidly adjusting to these technological forces, and the technological gap between the industrial nations and the less-developed countries continues to widen; the rapid development of new industrial (and agricultural) technology is complicating already grim environmental problems

Agriculture: the production of major food crops has increased substantially in the last 20 years; the annual production of cereals, for instance, has risen by 50%, from about 1.2 billion metric tons to about 1.8 billion metric tons; production increases have resulted mainly from increased yields rather than increases in planted areas; while global production is sufficient for aggregate demand, about one-fifth of the world's population remains malnourished, primarily because local production cannot adequately provide for large and rapidly growing populations, which are too poor to pay for food imports; conditions are especially bad in Africa where drought in recent years has intensified the consequences of overpopulation

Economic aid: NA