The G-20 brings together the world’s major advanced and emerging economies. It includes the EU, four EU Member States (Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom) and 15 countries from the rest of the world (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey and the United States). Together the members of the G-20 covered over 60% of the world’s land area, generated 87% of the global GDP and were home to 65% of the world population in 2010.

Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, releases today the latest edition of "The EU in the world", in which the EU and the 15 non-EU G-20 countries are compared across many statistical fields using a range of harmonised European and international statistics. For many indicators the total for the world is also included.

The EU accounts for 7% of the world population

The world had 6.9 billion inhabitants in 2010. The EU, with 500 million inhabitants, accounted for 7% of the world population. The five most populous countries in the world were all G-20 members: China (1 340 million inhabitants or 19% of the world population), India (1 220 mn or 18%), the United States (310 mn or 5%), Indonesia (240 mn or 3%) and Brazil (195 mn or 3%).

According to population projections, the world will have 9.6 billion inhabitants by 2060. The EU (520 million) will then account for 5% of the world population. India (1 720 million inhabitants or 18% of the world population) will be the most populous country, ahead of China (1 210 mn or 13%).

The world had on average 51 inhabitants per km2 in 2010, and the EU 117 inhabitants per km2. Among the G-20 members, South Korea (484 inhabitants per km2) had by far the highest population density, followed by India (373) and Japan (335), while Australia and Canada (both 3 inhabitants per km2) and Russia (8) had the lowest.

Public debt in 2011 ranged from 8% of GDP in Saudi Arabia to 230% in Japan

World GDP was 47 600 billion euro in 2010. The EU, with 12 300 bn, accounted for 26% of the total, followed by 23% for the United States and 9% each for China and Japan.

Over the last ten years the economies of the G-20 members have followed different trends. China registered the highest growth in GDP in real terms between 2000 and 2010, with GDP increasing by more than 2.5 times, followed by India, where GDP doubled. On the other hand, the lowest growth was observed in Japan, the EU and the United States, where GDP rose by less than 20% between 2000 and 2010.

Consumer prices also show different trends among the G-20 members. In Turkey prices rose by 5.5 times between 2000 and 2011, in Russia by 3.5 times and in Argentina they nearly tripled. On the other hand, in Japan prices fell slightly over this period, while prices rose by about 25% in Canada, and by around 30% in China, the EU and the United States.

As regards public finances, the EU registered a public deficit of 4.4% of GDP in 2011. Most of the non-EU G-20 countries also recorded a public deficit, with the largest in Japan (-10.1% of GDP), the United States (-9.6%) and India (-8.7%). In contrast three G-20 members registered surpluses: Saudi Arabia (+15.2%), South Korea (+2.3%) and Russia (+1.6%). The EU recorded a ratio of government debt to GDP of 82.5% in 2011. The highest ratios among the non-EU G-20 countries were observed in Japan (229.8% of GDP), the United States (102.9%) and Canada (85.0%), and the lowest in Saudi Arabia (7.5%), Russia (9.6%), Australia (22.9%), Indonesia (25.0%) and China (25.8%).

Life expectancy ten years longer in the EU than the world average

The fertility rate in the world averaged 2.5 births per woman over the period 2005-2010. The average for the EU was 1.6 births, below the population replacement rate2 of 2.1. Among the non-EU G-20 countries, Saudi Arabia (3.0), India (2.7) and South Africa (2.6) had the highest rates; Japan and South Korea (both 1.3) and Russia (1.4) the lowest.

The average life expectancy at birth across the world was 65.7 years for men and 70.1 for women over the period 2005-2010. In the EU life expectancy was more than ten years longer, at 76.1 and 82.1 years respectively. The highest life expectancies among the non-EU G-20 countries were registered in Japan (79.3 years for men and 86.1 years for women), Australia (79.1 and 83.8), Canada (78.2 and 82.8) and South Korea (76.5 and 83.3), and the lowest in South Africa (50.1 and 52.1), India (62.8 and 65.7), Russia (61.6 and 74.0) and Indonesia (66.3 and 69.4).

Most cars per inhabitant in Australia, most mobile phones in Saudi Arabia

Consumption patterns also differ greatly, as shown by the examples of cars and mobile phones. There were on average 473 passenger cars per 1 000 inhabitants in the EU in 2009. Among the non-EU G-20 countries Australia (550 cars per 1 000 inhabitants), Japan (454) and the United States (439) had the highest rates, and India (12), China (34) and Indonesia (45) the lowest.

As regards mobile phones, there were 127 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants on average in 2011 in the EU, which indicates that many persons had more than one subscription. Saudi Arabia (191 mobile phone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants), Russia (179), Argentina (135) and South Africa (127) had the highest rates, and India (72), China (73) and Canada (75) the lowest.