Note: This is the 1997 edition of UNEP's Global Environment Outlook. If you are interested in more recent information, please see the 2000 and 2002 editions.

Table 4.1.Selected Base Year Data and Assumptions for GEO Analysis: Absolute Figures
Total Average Annual Change (per cent)
Population (millions) 1950 1990 2015 2050 1950-1990 1990-2015 2015-2050
Africa 218 639 1256 2198 27 27 16
Asia & Pacific 1321 2926 4070 5161 20 13 0.7
Europe 572 790 862 894 8 4 1
Latin America 164 446 639 820 25 15 7
North America 166 277 320 330 13 6 1
West Asia 69 202 411 726 27 29 16
World 2510 5280 7560 10129 19 14 8
Gross domestic product (billion 1990 US$) 1950 1990 2015 2050 1950-1990 1990-2015 2015-2050
Africa 102 413 1009 4300 36 36 42
Asia & Pacific 395 4661 11990 30753 64 39 27
Europe 1719 8143 15063 27274 40 25 17
Latin America 184 1145 2431 6905 47 31 30
North America 1722 6031 13075 21625 32 31 14
West Asia 73 570 1572 6905 53 41 43
World 4195 20964 45140 95954 41 31 22
Primary energy consumption (petajoules) 1950 1990 2015 2050 1950-1990 1990-2015 2015-2050
Africa 1231 7396 16528 58859 46 33 3.7
Asia & Pacific 4814 68663 185143 336144 69 40 1.7
Europe 30691 129933 185490 205483 37 14 0.3
Latin America 1938 14323 25067 55405 51 23 23
North America 37398 88824 132650 121604 22 16 -0.2
West Asia 389 11424 26431 59097 88 34 28
World 76459 320563 571309 836592 36 23 1.1
Energy Intensity (megajoules per 1990 US$) 1950 1990 2015 2050 1950-1990 1990-2015 2015-2050
Africa 12 18 16 14 10 -4 -0.5
Asia & Pacific 12 15 15 11 5 2 -1
Europe 18 16 12 8 -3 -10 -1.4
Latin America 11 13 10 8 4 -8 -7
North America 22 15 10 6 -10 -15 -1.7
West Asia 5 20 17 9 34 -7 -1.9
World 18 15 13 9 -4 -8 -1.1
Agricultural production of maize (thousand tonnes) 1970 1990 2015 2050 1970-1990 1990-2015 2015-2050
Africa 21356 36651 82669 186751 27 33 24
Asia & Pacific 49219 116612 220479 296467 44 26 8
Europe 46094 70506 91799 120956 21 11 8
Latin America 36778 55931 91592 153744 21 20 15
North America 125322 202070 224076 251521 24 4 3
West Asia 1827 3086 4288 3784 27 13 -4
World 280596 484856 714903 1013223 28 16 10
Caloric intake (billion kilocalories per day) 1970 1990 2015 2050 1970-1990 1990-2015 2015-2050
Africa 478 1511 3210 6236 29 31 19
Asia & Pacific 2729 7252 10821 14071 25 16 8
Europe 1865 2717 2952 3060 9 3 1
Latin America 406 1192 1778 2391 27 16 9
North America 537 1009 1170 1191 16 6 1
West Asia 167 585 1217 2167 32 30 17
World 6182 14265 21148 29116 21 16 9
Total water withdrawal (cubic kilometres per year) 1950 1990 2015 2050 1950-1990 1990-2015 2015-2050
Africa n.a. 145 199 280 n.a. 13 10
Asia & Pacific n.a. 1298 1654 2048 n.a. 10 6
Europe n.a. 715 871 912 n.a. 8 1
Latin America n.a. 179 241 302 n.a. 12 7
North America n.a. 511 582 574 n.a. 5 0.00
West Asia n.a. 130 168 211 n.a. 11 7
World n.a. 2978 3715 4327 n.a. 9 4

Sources:
Historical data from Klein Goldewijk and Battjes (1995); assumptions about the future from Raskin et al. (1996).
Note:
n.a. = not available.